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A STATE PARK PLAN 



FOR 



NEW YORK 



WITH A PROPOSAL FOR THE NEW PARK BOND ISSUE 



DECEMBER 

19 2 2 



A STATE PARK PLAN 



FOR 



NEW YORK 

WITH A PROPOSAL FOR THE NEW PARK BOND ISSUE 



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A STATE PARK PLAN 

FOR 

NEW YORK 

WITH A PROPOSAL FOR THE NEW PARK BOND ISSUE 



COMMITTEE ON STATE PARK PLAN 

NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION 

// 



DECEMBER, 1922 



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^V 



FOREWORD 

Several years ago, largely throngli the interest of the late 
G-eorge W. Perkins, then President of the Palisades Interstate 
Park, a committee was formed by the State Reconstruction 
Commission to make a comprehensive study of the park needs 
of New York State. Owing to Mr. Perkins' death this study 
was not completed. The present committee, which includes 
almost all of the members of Mr. Perkins' original committee, 
has prepared the report which follows, looking toward the 
development of a unified state park plan Avith the new park 
bond issue as the immediate objective. 



lAi 2i ISZ3 



01 

g INDEX 

A 

C!2 PAGE 

^ A State Park Plan for New York. 4 

Present and Proposed State Park Developments: 

I— A New Bond Issue for the State Forest Preserve 11 

II— The Palisades Interstate Park 18 

III_Proposed Development of the Allegany State 
Park. A New Forest and Stream Playground 
for Western New York 26 

IV— Plan to Enlarge the State Eeservation at Ni- 
agara and Establish the New York State 
Memorial Eiverways and Eeserves 36 

V— Letchworth Park and its Proposed Development 41 

VI— Proposed Finger Lakes Park System 49 

VII— The Proposed Parkway from New York City to 

Bear Mountain Park 60 

VIII— The Eoosevelt Memorial Park and Parkway 68 

IX— Other Proposed Park Developments 74 

Extension of the Saratoga Springs Eeserva- 
tion '^4 

The Proposed Taconic Forest— A Tn-State 

Park ^^ 

The John Boyd Thacher Park 79 

Appendix A— Chart Showing Organization and Custody of 

State Parks 81 

Appendix B — An act making provision for issuing bonds to 
the amount of not to exceed fifteen million 
dollars for the extension and improve- 
ment of existing state parks and the estab- 
lishment of new state parks and parkways 
in order to create a comprehensive and 
unified state park system for the promo- 
tion of the recreation, instruction and 
health of the people 82 

3 



A STATE PARK PLAN FOR NEW YORK 

1916 Bond Issue Exhausted 

The State Park bond issue of ten million dollars, which was 
approved by the Legislature and by the people in 1916 (Chapter 
569 of the Laws of 1916), is now exhausted by appropriations. 
Of this bond issue $7,500,000 was applicable to the acquisi- 
tion of lands for state park purposes within the Forest Pre- 
serve counties and $2,500,000 was applicable to the acquisition 
of lands for the extension of the Palisades Interstate Park. 
The last $2,500,000 for the State Forest Preserve extension was 
appropriated at the last session of the Legislature and this 
sum will be expended within another year. It will be seen that 
the Forest Preserve land has become available at the rate of 
approximately $1,000,000 a year and that purchases for the 
extension of the Palisades Interstate Park have been made 
at the rate of approximately $500,000 a year. This calcula- 
tion does not take into consideration the substantial gifts of 
land and money to the Palisades Interstate Park from private 
sources. As a matter of fact, the Palisades Interstate Park has 
received more from private sources than from the states of 
New York and New Jersey combined. In addition to the Forest 
Preserve and Palisades Interstate Park the state has also 
provided by bond issue monies which are now exhausted, for 
the development of the Saratoga State Reserv^ation. 

New Bond Issue Gives Opportunity for Unified Plan 

The most superficial consideration of this problem shows 
the imperative need of extending the Forest Preserve upon 
which the very life of the state depends and of adding to the 
present area and recreational facilities of the Palisades Inter- 
state Park which are already overtaxed. The state is now 
definitely committed to the use of bond issue monies for the 
development of the Forest Preserve, Palisades Interstate Park 
and Saratoga Reservation. A new bond issue is now required 
for this purpose. It is expected that these parks can be de- 
veloped effectively during the next seven or eight years at a 
somewhat reduced rate of progress as compared to the past 
five years. Since no new issue could be approved before the 
end of 1923, it is clear that we must plan for a period of at least 
seven or eight years in advance. It is estimated that over such 
a period approximately $5,000,000 will enable the state to carry 



out its policy of Forest Preserve extension and that $3,500,000 
will provide for the necessary extensions and permanent im- 
provements of the Palisades Interstate Park over and above 
anticipated gifts from private sources. 

In making further provision for these projects an opportunity 
is presented to the state to take the first steps toward the devel- 
opment of a really comprehensive and unified state park plan 
which will take into consideration the anticipated growth of 
the state's population and more particularly the growth of the 
larger cities. In the last five years there has been a great de- 
velopment of interest in parks throughout the state. This is 
due to the inadequacy of city parks, the increased interest in 
conservation and recreation generally, the enormous increase in 
motor cars, and in part, at least, to the remarkable success of the 
Palisades Interstate Park. As a result, a number of communi- 
ties neglected in the previous bond issues now justly demand 
that their needs be considered in connection with the next parks 
bond issue. This applies particularly to the western part of 
New York State, to the Finger Lakes region, to Westchester 
County and Long Island and the metropolitan district generally, 
and to the so-called east central part of the state. These de- 
velopments and extensions must be brought about in the course 
of the next few years if at all. While the State of New York 
has been one of the foremost states in the union in the number 
and character of its state park developments, the assumption 
of these activities did not come about as a result of any central 
plan or policy. Our forty parks and places of scenic and his- 
toric interest, ranging from the Forest Preserve to Spy Island, 
have been established partly upon the initiative of the state 
but largely on account of private initiative and gifts supple- 
mented by state aid. No conscious effort has been made to 
develop a unified state park program looking toward the future 
recreational needs of a rapidly growing community and toward 
the further development and unification of the existing state 
parks. We believe that the time has now come to take the first 
steps toward the development of a plan of this kind which will 
insure, while there is still time, the further extension of the 
Forest Preserve and recreational facilities for all the people 
of the state, beyond those which any one community or group 
of neighboring communities may be expected to provide for 
itself. 

Anticipated Growth of Cities 

No intelligent state park plan can be made without reference 
to the anticipated growth in population, particularly in the 
population of cities. For purposes of graphic illustration we 
have obtained through the courtesy of the New York Telephone 
Company the following figures which the company is using 
currently as a basis of its planning and extensions: 



Actual Estimated 



"^ i~ 



1910 1920 1930 1940 



Albanv 100,253 113,344 130,000 150,000 

Binghamton 48,443 66,800 90,000 120,000 

Buffalo 423,715 506,775 600,000 740,000 

New York City 4,766,883 5,620,048 6,813,000 8,354,000 

Niagara Falls 30,445 50,760 78,000 115,000 

Rochester 218,149 295,750 375,000 470,000 

Schenectady 72,826 88,723 110,000 130,000 

Syracuse 137,249 171,717 210,000 250,000 

Troy 76,813 72,013 85,000 95,000 

Utica 74,419 94,156 115,000 140,000 

Yonkers 79,803 100,176 130,000 175,000 

New York State 

(whole state) 9,113,614 10,385,227 12,000,000 13,920,000 



115,000,000 Bond Issue Requwed ivith Provision for Permanent 
Improvements as Well as Acquisition of Land 

After a most careful consideration, we have concluded that 
a new bond issue of fifteen million dollars would adequately 
provide not only for the further developments of the Forest 
Preserve and the Palisades Interstate Park, to which the State 
is already committed, but also for the needs of the other parts 
of the State for the coming seven or eight years. 

An essential feature of the new bond issue bill should be an 
authorization to the legislature to provide for permanent im- 
provements as well as the acquisition of land in all cases save 
that of the Forest Preserve. The modem park must provide 
good roads, lakes, facilities for large outings and where pos- 
sible camps and the other facilities which make a park acces- 
sible and attractive to people who come from considerable dis- 
tances. 

Summary of Provisions of Proposed 'New Bond Issue Bill 

The essential features of the proposed bond issue bill, which 
are discussed at greater length in another part of this report, 
may be summarized as follows : 

The Committee recommends that 

(1) A bill be submitted at the 1923 session of the legis- 
lature calling for the issuing of fifty-year serial bonds to 
an amount not to exceed $15,000,000. The purpose of the 
bill is to establish new state parks and to provide for the 



extension and improvement of existing state parks in order 
to create a comprehensive and unified state park system 
for the promotion of the recreation, instruction and health 
of the people. The bonds shall be issued for the acquisi- 
tion of lands for state park purposes, for permanent im- 
provements and betterments within state parks and for 
parkway and boulevard connections between state parks 
and between state parks and neighboring centers of popu- 
lation. This proposed law shall be submitted to the peo- 
ple at the general election of 1923 and shall not take effect 
unless it is approved by a majority of all the votes cast 
for and against it. 

(2) The proceeds of such bonds, after appropriation by 
the Legislature, shall be applicable to the acquisition of 
park lands and to the making of permanent improvements 
thereon as follows, excepting that no part of the sum set 
aside for the State Forest Preserve shall be used for any 
other purpose than the acquisition of land: 

For the State Forest Preserve. $5,000,000 

For the Palisades Interstate Park 8,500,000 

For the Allegany State Park 2,000,000 

For the Niagara State Reservation 1,000,000 

For the Letchioorth Park 500,000 

For the Watkins Olen and Enfield Falls Parks and for other 

parks and parkways in the Finger Lakes region 250,000 

For parkway connections bettoeen the Bronx River Park- 
way, and the Bridge from Peekskill to Bear Mountain 

in Westchester County 1,000,000 

For the extension and development of the Roosevelt Memo- 
rial Park as a state park and for a parkioay connection 

between this park and the City of Neiv York 1,000,000 

For the development and extension of other state parks 
and the acquisition and development of additional parks, 
including the further development of the State Reserva- 
tion at Saratoga Springs 150,000 



Total : $15,000,000 

(3) It is provided that expenditures for land and other 
purposes shall, in the case of each project, be made by the 
commissioners in charge of the existing park which is to 
be extended or improved. In the case of the Forest Pre- 
serve and Saratoga Eeservation the usual provision is of 
course also made for the consent of the commissioners of 
the land office. In the case of the Westchester, Finger 
Lakes and Eoosevelt Memorial projects, the controlling 
commissions are to be constituted by the legislature. There 
is also a general provision that the legislature may make 
changes in the administrative authorities to have charge 
of the expenditures of funds. 



Constitutional a y of Proposed Bond Issue 

Several important constitutional questions arise in connec- 
tion with this bond issue proposal. The most important of these 
questions are (1) Does the proposed bond issue provide for a 
single object within the meaning of Article 3, Section 7 of 
the Constitution? (2) Is the provision for permanent improve- 
ments to be regarded as a logical and necessary feature in the 
development of a unified state park plan! (3) May the proposal 
if approved by the legislature of 1923 be submitted to the people 
at the election in the fall of 1923 ? 

The Committee has sought the benefit of the advice of dis- 
tinguished constitutional authorities on these questions. Thesa 
authorities include Mr. Louis Marshall, Mr. George W. Wicker- 
sham, former Attorney General of the United States, Judge 
Samuel H. Ordway, Mr. Merton E, Lewis, former Attorney 
General of New York State, and Senator Martin Saxe. These 
gentlemen are all of the opinion that the proposed bill is con- 
stitutional, that the provision for permanent improvemoTits is 
proper, and that the proposal may be submitted to the people 
in 1923 if approved by the legislature. The committee wishes 
to express its thanks to these gentlemen and to Mr. W. F. Mc- 
Cormick, one of the state bill drafting commissioners, for their 
assistance in the preparation of the bill. 

Financial Aspects of the Plan 

The bond issue bill calls for fifty-year serial bonds. The 
bill is, of course, merely an authorization to the legislature, 
and no monies from the bond issues may be spent excepting pur- 
suant to legislative appropriations. It is anticipated that the 
legislature will make appropriations from time to time as condi- 
tions warrant in the course of the next seven years. No provision 
need be made until 1925 for the retirement of such bonds or for 
interest charges. The amount to be retired annually will not in 
any one 3"ear exceed $280,000. Interest charges will run from a 
minimum of two hundred eighty-five thousand dollars to a maxi- 
mum of six hundred thousand dollars at the end of five or six 
years, and will then be reduced gradually by approximately 
one hundred fourteen thousand dollars per year as the bonds 
are retired. In this connection it should be noted that previous 
bond issues are being rapidly retired and that the new bond 
issue will therefore impose only a very small additional burden. 

Another financial question is that of upkeep. Close exami- 
nation of the suggested park extension and developments will 
show that the increased cost of maintenance need not be a seri- 
ous consideration. The conservation commission is increas- 
ingly self-supporting. Other parks will also produce more reve- 
nue as they are developed, and will not in any event require 
large additional appropriations. 



iVo Interference with Agriculture or Industry 

It should be noted that this park program does not involve 
the withdrawal of land from agricultural development nor in- 
terference with or encroachment upon other necessary activities 
and industries. Because of their character and location, the 
proposed park developments can be brought about with the 
minimum of disturbance if they are brought about now. As 
time goes on, these developments will involve more and more 
serious difficulties and the time is not far off when they can not 
be accomplished at all. The greater part of the land in ques- 
tion is woodland, some of which at least can be used for grow- 
ing timber. Even in the Adirondacks and Catskills, where state 
lands must be kept wild and untouched under the constitution, 
private holdings within the Forest Preserve counties are not 
crowded out, except to the limited extent necessary for the pro 
tection of watersheds on which depend water supply, stream 
flow and water power as well as recreation and wild life. 

Details Left to Legislature 

Only the essential outlines of the proposed state park plan 
are indicated in the bond issue, all the details being left to the 
legislature. This committee has, however, prepared a report 
upon each of the main features of the plan in support of the 
bond issue bill, merely to indicate the scope and character of 
the developments regarded as desirable by those most familiar 
with the local problems. The bond issue proposal simply gives 
to the voters an opportunity to authorize a comprehensive park 
program. The amount which is involved is small as compared 
to the sums which have been and are being spent for other public 
works. Appropriations for state parks are in the truest sense a 
permanent investment not only in lands and improvements, but 
in public health and better citizenship. 

Acknowledgment of Assistance in Preparing the Descriptive 

Report 

In the preparation of the descriptive report which follows, 
we have been fortunate in having the hearty cooperation of a 
number of groups and individuals interested in state parks de- 
velopment. We wish to acknowledge the assistance of the com- 
missioners of almost all of the larger state parks. In particular, 
we wish to express our thanks to Mr. Alexander MacDonald, the 
present Conservation Commissioner, to Mr. George D. Pratt, a 
former Conservation Commissioner, to Mr. Edward Hagaman 
Hall, Secretary of the American Scenic and Historic Preser- 
vation Society and of the Association for the Protection of the 
Adirondacks, to Mr. J. Du Pratt White, President of the 



Palisades Interstate Park, and to the several contributors to the 
small fund which has made the printing of this report possible. 

Committee on State Park Plan 

Madison Grant^ New York, Chairman 

A. T. Fancher^ Salamanca, Vice-Chairman 

W. A. Welch^ Haverstraw, Vice-Chairman 

John G. Agar^ New Kochelle 

W. D. Baldwin^ Yorktown 

Albert Britt^ New York 

Harold A. Caparn^ New York 

Edwin J. Clapp^ New York 

Addison B. Colvin^ Glens Falls 

Melvil Dewey^ Lake Placid 

Jay Downer^ Bronxville 

Henry K. Francis^ Syracuse 

Fredk. S. GreenE;, Sands Point 

Chauncey J. Hamlin^ Buffalo 

Edward G. Hayes^ Canandaigua 

Wolcott J. Humphrey, Warsaw 

Kaymond V. Ingersoll^ New York 

Ross W. Kellogg^ Ithaca 

E. H. Letchworth_, Buffalo 
John P. Myers^ Plattsburg 
Wm. Church Osborn, Garrison 

F. W. Olmstead^, Mineola 
H. de B. P ARSONS;, New York 

Geo. F. Peabody^ Saratoga Springs 
John T. Pratt^ Gleu Cove 
Charles E. Treman^, Ithaca 
William J. Wallin^ Yonkers 
Ansley Wilcox^ Buffalo 
Frank B. Williams^ New York 
Robert Moses^ New York, Secretary 

Adelbbrt Moot^ Buffalo, President, 

New York State Association. 

Dwight Marvin^ Troy, Chairman of the Board of Directors, 

New York State Association. 



10 



I. 

A NEW BOND ISSUE FOR THE FOREST PRESERVE 

With the appropriation by the Legislature of 1922 of the last 
two and a half millions of the $7,500,000 bond issue authorized 
in 1916 for the enlargement of the State Forest Preserve, the 
question of providing for a continuance of the policy of Forest 
Preserve extension now comes before the people. 

The policy of the Conservation Commission in acquiring 
forest lands which has been followed for a number of years is 
as follows: 

1. To protect steep slopes of forested mountains by 
acquiring the land in order to prevent lumbering. 

2. To acquire forests which might be lumbered where 
consequent to such operations, there will be an unusual 
fire risk. 

3. To reduce administrative expenses and consolidate 
ownership. 

4. To maintain and increase the health, recreational and 
game interests. 

5. To reduce cost of litigation in protecting the state's 
title to land in dispute. 

During the past few years land of various kinds and types 
has been acquired. Large sums of money have been expended 
in acquiring virgin forests on steep slopes, which are very ex- 
pensive on account of the large amount of pulpwood which 
could be taken therefrom; areas which are of particular use for 
recreation purposes have been acquired at different elevations; 
areas of burned land have been acquired at a nominal price 
to consolidate ownership, save the expense of boundary line 
surveys and solidify the state's ownership. Some areas have 
been acquired with rights to cut timber of merchantable size 
and thus assured the state large areas of desirable land at a 
low price. 

Prior to the bond issue authorized in 1916, the state had 
appropriated about $4,000,000 for land purchase for the Forest 
Preserve. Funds became available under the bond issue in 1917. 
Between that time and January 1, 1922, about $5,600,000 had 
been expended or contracted to be expended under the bond 
issue for land purchases, including cost of surveys, legal ex- 
penses, etc. These figures are necessarily approximate, because 
some of the estimated expenditures are for lands which are to 

11 




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12 



be taken by condemnation and the exact cost of which cannot 
be foretold. They indicate, however, that the state has been 
expending the bond issue money at the rate of about $1,100,000 
a year, and that at the same rate the balance on hand will last 
a little less than two years, or about the length of time needed 
to secure legislation for a new bond issue, the necessary ref- 
erendum to the voters, and the subsequent appropriation by 
the legislature. 

If, to the area acquired and the appropriations made for land 
purchase for the Forest Preserve up to January 1, 1917, be 
added the area and cost of the land thus far purchased or con- 
tracted for under the bond issue, and if to that sum be added 
the estimated area and cost of land which may be acquired with 
the balance of the present bond issue money, we may forecast 
the following approximate result upon the exhaustion of the 
present bond issue as follows: 

Acreage Appropriation 

From 1883 to January 1, 1917 1,804,000 $4,000,000 

January 1, 1917, to December 31, 1921, 

purchased and contracted for 325,000 5,600,000 

January 1, 1922, to December 31, 1923, 

estimated at foregoing rate 110,250 1,900,000 

Approximate Total Adirondack and 

Catskill Preserves 2,239,250 $11,500,000 

Has this investment been worth while and is it desirable to 
enlarge it? Yes, decidedly yes. In the first place, the mone}' 
value justifies it. In the fall of 1916, when the state owned 
approximately 1,800,000 acres, its holdings which had cost about 
$4,000,000 were valued at $40,000,000. The state can afford to 
spend many millions more for land purchase and still be " ahead 
of the game." But that is not the main argument. The main 
argument is that the forests must be preserved for the protec- 
tion of the great public interests dependent upon them; and 
they can be effectively preserved under present conditions only 
by bringing them under the protection of the state constitut- 
tion by state ownersliip. Trees in the State Forest Preserve 
cannot be cut. Trees on private land can be cut, and, accord- 
ing to the Conservation Commission, are being cut from three 
to five times faster than they are being grown. Forest owners 
have figured out that under present conditions it does not pay 
them to replant. Consequently they cut down their trees for 
immediate needs, leaving the future to the chances of nature 
or the providence of the government. But nature is not given 
half a chance and the government must intervene in her be- 
half. The forests are denuded faster than unaided nature can 
replace them. If deer or any other game animals are slaugh- 

13 




14 




SLANT ROCK CAMP ON THE JOHn's BROOK TRAIL TO MT. MARCY 



tered faster than they reproduce themselves, they are extermi- 
nated. It is the same with trees; they are being killed faster 
than they are being reproduced; they are being exterminated. 
The softwood trees are taken off for lumber and pulpwood, and 
then the hardwood men go in and remove every remaining stick 
for woodenware of various kinds, acid, etc. The ground is 
virtually stripped clean; often dangerous slashes are left; fire 
ensues, and sometimes even the soil, the very source of tree life, 
is destroyed. Until conditions change so that forest owners are 
encouraged to replant, or until the state extends a guiding hand 
over private forests, the only way to save the forests or to give 
nature her chance, is for the state to extend the Forest Pre- 
serve. 

15 




A TYPE OF THIC HEAVILY TIMBERED, STEEP MOUNTAIN SLOPES SURVEYED BY THE 
CONSERVATION COMMISSION AS A FIRST STEP TOWARD PURCHASE 



There is ample opportunity for such extension without 
crowding out all private holdings. The area within the Blue 
Line of the Adirondack Park is 3,313,564 acres, including both 
state and private lands. The area within the Blue Line of the 
Catskill Park is 576,120 acres. Here is a total of 3,889,684 acres, 
of which the state, when it has completed its acquisitions under 
the present bond issue, will probably own only about 2,070,000 
acres.* The purchase of all the remaining 1,800,000 acres of 
private land is not advocated. It would be too expensive in 
the first place; and besides, private ownerships here and there 

•The Forest Preserve includes about 170,000 acres outside the Blue Lines. 

16 



have a conservative value in forest protection. But a good 
portion of it will be purchasable and should be purchased by 
the state as occasion arises or as opportuinty presents itself. 

The Forest Preserve is not a luxury; it is the necessity of a 
civilized people. In New York State and at the present time, 
its first value is that of a i)rotection of the vitally important 
watersheds of northern New York. Upon this protection de- 
pend great industrial interests which use hydro-electric power, 
the health and safety of communities large and small along the 
Hudson and other streams issuing from the Adirondacks; and 
especially the welfare of the City of New York, which is look- 
ing to the Adirondacks for the next increment of her water- 
supply. Eventually, the Forest Preserve may become a source 
of timber for commercial use; but that time has not yet come 




WAS THAT THE CLICK OF A TRIGGER, OR ONLY A CAMERA? 

and will not come until it can be demonstrated that the state 
can do with her forests what private owners apparently cannot 
yet do in this state, namely, cut down, replant and provide a 
continuous forest growth profitably. Even in uses popularly 
called recreative the Forest Preserve is more of a necessity 
than a luxury in New York State. Here we have the greatest 
concentration of population of any state in the Union; the great- 
est strain of intensive application to work; and the greatest 
need for places and facilities for relaxation from nerve-tension 
and for health conservation. The state is investing capital in 
the constitutions of her people by providing this great place 
for tramping, camping, hunting, fishing and boating in the Adi • 
rondacks and the Catskills. 

17 




BEAR MOUNTAIN PLAYGROUND 



II. 

THE PALISADES INTERSTATE PARK 

The Palisades Interstate Park was created in 1900 by the 
states of New York and New Jersey to stop the destruction of 
the Palisades of the Hudson and preserve them for a park. In 
1906 the reservation was extended to take in Hook Mountain 
and in 1910 again extended north to Newburgh and westward to 
include the Ramapo Mountains. 

It is controlled by an unpaid commission appointed by the 
governors of two states and supported by appropriations from 
the states and gifts. To date, 1922, $15,376,038.49, including the 
value of land donated, has been put into the park in acquiring 
lands and general development work. Of this amount. New 
York state supplied $6,866,552.05; New Jersey, $1,006,678.63, 
and private contributors, $7,502,807.81. 

There are 1,060 acres in New Jersey extending for twelve 
miles along the Hudson River, 550 acres in the Blauvelt tract, 
west of Nyack, 780 acres in the Hook Mountain-Rockland Lake 
section, 33,950 acres in the Bear Mountain-Harriman section and 
850 acres in the Storm King section. 

The development work has all been done by the Commis- 
sion's own force and all the park activities are conducted by this 
force. It is organized into eight departments, operating under 
a general manager, each department being in charge of a sala- 
ried superintendent and directed by one of the commissioners. 




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BEAR MT. LANDING 



18 




KEY MAP 



PALISADES INTERSTATE PARK 



PALISADES INTERSTATE PARK 
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 



STORM KIKG SECTION 





■avxv TW-nTTTirTAT-Kr TT.AVnROTJN'n . 



ROCKLAND LAKE 
<5ECTION 




PALISADES INTERSTATE PARK 
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 

PALISADES 

ROCKLAND LAKE. AND BLAUVELT 

SECTIONS 



fdT.!svs:.i~ii-"-e.ifm"" "'"' ~ ' 




HIGHLAND LAKE 



The park has been developed with the sole object of making 
it accessible and usable for the people. Great care has been 
taken to preserve and enhance its natural beauties and all arti- 
ficial adornment has been avoided. 

Only such buildings have been erected as were considered 
necessary for the comfort of visitors and proper housing of the 
organization. 

Roads, paths, trails, lakes, docks, beaches, water and sani- 
tary systems, playgrounds, picnic groves, boats, pavilions, shel- 
ters, camps and ice houses have been built, and restaurants, 
lunch rooms and steamer and automobile transportation pro- 
vided. 

Much forestry work has been done and from the dead timber 
secured in this work has been sawed practically all the lumber 
used in the buildings. More than 5,000,000 young trees and 
many native shrubs have been planted, also nut trees and_ a 
great variety of berry-bearing shrubs have been planted to in- 
crease the food supply of the birds, and native wild flowers and 
flowering shrubs are being planted and fostered. 

Several of the lakes and streams have been stocked ^rith 
game and pan fish and other varieties planted for their food 
and for the control of mosquitoes. 

There are few places in the world that offer more oppor- 
tunity for biological study than this park. The Commission 
procured a herd of elk from the Yellowstone and placed them 
within the park under enclosure. The herd is doing well and 




SEVEN LAKES DRIVE 



SEVEN LAKES DRIVE 



19 



«.«. -.w.',. 




BEAR MOUNTAIN PLAYGROUND 

increasing year by year. The native deer are increasing rapidly 
and there are several hnndred in the park. The Commission 
also procured a number of beaver from the Adirondacks, which 
are doing well and have made themselves very much at home 
in the park. The black bears have returned and their tracks 
are plainly marked upon the snow-laden ground during the 
winter months. 

The Bear Mountain Inn, described as " A heap of boulders 
and huge chestnut logs assembled at the base of Bear Moun- 
tain by the hand of man, yet following the lines of such natural 
proportions as to resemble the eternal hills themselves," has 
been established by the Commission with the idea of supply- 
ing visitors to the park and camping parties with the best food 
at reasonable prices. In this building are refrigerating plant, 
bakery, bottling plant, ice cream plant, laundry and storerooms, 
from which the several small lunch stands throughout the park 
are also supplied. 

The Commission operates two large river steamers, the 
" Clermont," which carries three thousand passengers, and the 
" Onteora," which carries two thousand. During the season 
these steamers make daily trips between New York City, Jersey 
City and Bear Mountain. The fares charged are as low as pos- 
sible, with the idea of yielding only expenses of operation and 
maintenance. These steamers have been especially refitted for 
this service and in accommodation and comfort compare favor- 
ably with the best river boats. Music and space for dancing 



STORM KING SECTION, HENRY HUDSON DRIVE 



i .^ 


1 


1 




•rt 


t J 




'> 


- 


^ 


1 




^ 


i 


i 



20 



^^■<^'. 



m^^ 



WINTER WOODS 




PARK OMNIBUSES 



is provided and the number carried so limited tliat there is no 
crowding and all can move about with comfort. 

Forty large sight-seeing motor omnibuses carry visitors at 
lowest possible rates from the boat landings to the Inn and 
playground and on longer trips over the park drives through 
the mountains and valleys, along the beautiful streams and lake 
shores, which make this section so charming. These trips are 
so arranged that visitors may see as much of the park as pos- 
sible and return in time for the steamers. Special arrangements 
are made to care for the campers and their equipment, thou- 
sands of them being transported each week from the city direct 
to the camps. 

One of the major activities of the Commission is to provide 
camping facilities for social organizations, so that those with 
little or no opportunity to get a wholesome vacation may be 
brought under the most favorable auspices to the mountains 
and lakes of the park. On the most pictureque lakes of the park, 
standard mess and play pavilions, sleeping cabins, dependable 
water and sanitary facilities, all constructed so as to harmonize 
with their natural surroundings, are made available. These 
camp plants are rented on an annual tenure to acceptable or- 
ganizations at a rate dependent upon the size and accommo- 
dation. A later development of the Commission has been the 
building of camps for the use of employees of large industrial 
organizations. The Commission thereby enables these organi- 





BEAVER 



21 




SWIMMING MEET 



zations to take care of a greater number of their employees in 
summer vacation welfare camps. Some of these camps are also 
maintained throughout the year. Any acceptable organized 
group of families is provided for in a like manner with com- 
plete camps for each group. 

Cooked food, based on a dietary formulated by experts on 
child care, is sent in heat-retaining receptacles from Bear Moun- 
tain Inn to the camps, making unnecessary a food manufac- 
turing establishment at each camp. Food, of substantial quan- 
tity and of uniform quality, is thereby made available at a cost 
below that of cooking at camp. 

Marked trails for hiking expeditions to points of historic 
and natural interest are extensively used by all the outdoor 
organizations and these organizations have rendered splendid 
assistance in the clearing and marking of these trails. The 
campers also use them for one-day and over-night hikes. Camps 
for individuals and families are maintained at Alpine, in the 
New Jersey section of the park; at Hook Mountain, in the New 
York section of the park and at Queensboro, three miles inland 
from Bear Mountain. 

The attendance, during the season of 1922, shows an increase 
of about 25 per cent, over the attendance of last season. A total 





TYPICAL CAMPS 



TYPICAL CAMPS 



22 




AT SUMMIT LAKE 



of 3,000,000 persons visited the New York section of the park 
this season. In excess of the 50,000 group campers, which com- 
prised 86 different groups, there were 3,000 individual campers 
under canvas. 

The park areas which the Commission have developed are 
being so intensively used that it is imperative that other avail- 
able areas be developed as rapidly as possible. 

The number of daily visitors at Bear Mountain this season 
so congested the docks, picnic groves, playfields, pavilions, 
roads, parking spaces and other facilities that other develop- 
ments of this kind must be made to meet the public demands 
for this type of recreation. 

The automobile traffic has grown so rapidly and the present 
drives are so congested that much progress must be made to- 
ward the completion of the road system of the park within a 
very few years to relieve this condition. 

The parking spaces along the present drives are inadequate 
to meet the present demand and motor picnickers are compelled 
to use these areas not yet provided with sanitary facilities oi 
proper fire protection and so are greatly increasing the fire 





BOY SCOUTS 



GIRL SCOUTS 



23 



WATER GYMKANA 



hazard and endangering the liealth of all visitors and campers. 
It is imperative that man}- more parking and picnic places be 
provided each year and equipped with proper facilities. 

The use of the trails by both trampers and campers lias in- 
creased until more trails must be built, marked and provided 
with shelters and sanitary facilities. 

The camping of both individual and group type has de- 
veloped so rapidly that practically all the available lakes are 
used to their capacity and the insistent and increasing demands 
for more of these camps make it necessary to construct addi- 
tional lakes for this purpose. 

The forestrj^ work already done shows such splendid results 
that the Commission feels warranted in continuing the program 
outlined for this work and recognizes the necessity of protect- 
ing and improving the great young deciduous forests which 
cover so much of the park as well as continuing the planting 
of conifers. 

The great increase in visitors to all sections of the park and 
particularly the overflow of these visitors into the undeveloped 
sections make it necessary to provide greatly increased sanitary 
facilities and careful protection of the many water supplies. 

The opening this year of a new section of the Henry Hudson 
Drive, the spectacular Storm King Eoad, and the tremendous 
motor travel which has developed over it, make it necessary 
to develop the section of the park north of West Point which 
has recently been presented to the Commission. 

The Hook Mountain section, which embraces that portion of 
the Palisades Ridge lying between Nyack and Haversti-aw, is 
undeveloped, save for one small area near Nyack. This is one 
of the most beautiful sections of the entire park and the Com- 
mission has worked out extensive and careful plans for open- 
ing up this area. 

The Hook Mountain section of the Henry Hudson Drive will 
traverse this entire section and complete that magnificent drive- 
way. There are opportunities for the development of many 
playfields, picnic groves, bathing beaches and large camping 

24 




AT LAKE STAIIAHE 

areas, and tliese developments will relieve the increasing con- 
gestion at Bear Mountain from the one-day excursionists. 

The plans for the above outlined developments have been 
worked out very carefully by the Commission, and within the 
period of seven years beginning in 1924, will require the follow- 
ing expenditures: 

For the construction of drives and trails $930,000.00 

For the construction of seven neio lakes Jf65,000.00 

For the construction of new docks in the undeveloped sections 
of the park along the river front and the improvement of this 

river front 175,000.00 

For the construction of shelters and hath houses in these present 

undeveloped new areas 233,000 . 00 

For the construction of the necessary sanitary facilities and 

water supplies of the new areas and the new lakes 110.000 .00 

For the clearing, development and construction of new playfields, 
camp sites, picnic spaces and pat-king spaces along the old 

and the proposed drives and around the new lakes 160,000.00 

For forestry work, fish and game conservation in present unde- 
veloped areas II4.OOO . 00 

For new Mthing Iteaches 10,000.00 

For the clearing and restoration of the historic fort sites within 

the park 10,000 . 00 

For the acquisition of a number of parcels of land ivithin the 

present holdings 7^7,000 . 00 

For the completion and paving of 39 miles of drives already con- 
structed 960,000 . 00 

In addition to these sums much must be sf)ent in the construc- 
tion of new camp buildings, restaurants and other structures 
used by the operating department, which will be erected by con- 
tributed and operating funds, as such structures have been 
financed in the past. 

It is impossible to convey in this limited space a definite idea 
of either the development or use of this park. The attendance 
in the park has increased from a few thousand in 1914 to one 
which it is impractical to count, save at a few points. This year 
such a partial count showed more than 4,000,000 before October 
1st. The fact that there are more than ten million people who 
can reach the park within two hours' motor or boat ride, will 
convey an even better idea of its value to the great mass of 
humanity in the metropolitan district. 

25 



m. 

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALLEGANY STATE 
PARK— A NEW FOREST AND STREAM PLAY- 
GROUND FOR WESTERN NEW YORK 

Submitted by the Commissioners of the Allegany State Park 

Present Conditions in the Allegany State Park 

Until the creation of the Allegany State Park purchase area 
by legislative act of 1921, there was lacking in western New York 
an immediate future prospect of a large public forest recrea- 
tional area such as had been provided the people of eastern 
New York. That the state by its act was meeting a tremendously 
popular demand for a wilderness playground for the 1,700,000 
people who reside within 100 miles of the new park, has been 
demonstrated by the crowds of people who have swarmed into 
the park the past two seasons. While the state has made a be- 
ginning in providing a large forest park for the people of west- 
ern New York, it is merely a beginning. For the legislative act 
set aside an area in which land may be purchased. Thus far, 
however, small appropriations have limited land acquisitions, 
while meager funds for development work have permitted only 
inadequate facilities. Consequently we have thousands of peo- 
ple going into the park area who can not yet be accommodated 
by public provisions for their health and happiness. They are, 
therefore, forced in some cases to trespass upon private lands, 
and in other cases to use the park under great handicaps. 

This New Wilderness Playground Greatly Needed hy Western 

New York 

The vast importance to the public welfare of having a large 
park of forests, hills and streams in western New York is 
brought out by the fact that the Allegany State Park was the 
only new conservation project recognized by the legislature in 
1921 in a year of strict economy. The state may be excused, 
while on a program of economy, for not providing out of current 
revenues for more than a beginning in its new western play- 
ground, but it cannot fail to recognize the public need of pro- 
viding by a bond issue for the thousands of people from all 
parts of western New York who have gone to the park in search 
of wholesome recreation and opportunities for nature study. 

26 




THE PARK IS ONE OF HILLS, FORESTS AND STREAMS 

A Scenic Region Serving as New York's Gateway to a Large 

National Forest 

The character of the area set aside for acquisition for the 
future park is wonderfully well suited to the purposes of pub' 
lie use. It is about 65,000 acres in extent. It is made up o^ 
ridges and valleys. The slopes and tops of these ridges are 
covered with a luxuriant forest, the valleys contain fast-flowing 
streams where trout are in abundance. The land is well drained. 
There are countless springs of pure, cold water through the 
region. The climate is very mild and attractive, both in sum- 
mer and winter. The region is one of great scenic beauty. The 
highest points overlook the surrounding region for nearly 100 
miles. Excellent highways lead to the area from all directions. 
The present roads in the park, however, are narrow and of 
small extent, having been old logging roads. One of the most 
valuable attributes of the park area is its fortunate location 
with reference to the new Allegheny National Forest. This 
Federal forest preserve is in the section of Pennsylvania just 
south of the park. It will be the largest government preserve 
in the East. The Allegheny National Forest Purchase tract has 
an area of 1,000,000 acres authorized by Federal agencies. The 
Allegany State Park will be New York State's gateway to this 
magnificent national forest. Already arrangements have been 
made to have the road and trail system of the park tie into the 
road and trail system of the national forest. 

The value to the people of the entire State of New York in 

27 



TENT CAMPS ARE LOCATED AT FREQUENT INTERVALS 

having a gateway park to this extensive national forest cannot 
be overemphasized. It will permit of large opportunities for 
hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, automobiling and all other 
forms of recreation for which the forest preserves of the west 
have become justly famous. The people of New Yoi'k can 
at present go into the Allegany State Park only for a short dis- 
tance over a dusty, hazardous road and must turn about and 
retrace their steps to the main public highways after visiting 
the limited area the commission has thus far been permitted to 
develop. 

Extensive Uses Overtax the Present Facilities 
The present condition of the park is regrettable because 
multitudes of people have to congregate in masses in the re- 
stricted area which has been provided for them. They do not 
secure the opportunity^ for a relief from the congested surround- 
ings which they have come to the park to avoid. These coi.di- 
tions would have been more deplorable if the Commissioners 
of the park had not secured some help from the national govern- 
ment which recognized the value of the undertaking by donat- 
ing nearly $500,000 worth of surplus war material. This equir)- 
ment has been used to a small extent for temporary camps and, 
all of it is available for use in permanent betterments as soon 
as funds for this purpose can be secured. 

This Park Area Has Large Economic Possibilities 
This park area is a valuable asset not only for recreational 
service to the public, but also because of its vast economic value 

28 



to the entire state. The property within the purchase area is 
now nearly wholly owned by private interests. These owners 
are in many cases cutting the timber for chemical wood pur- 
poses. This sort of cutting leaves the land completely denuded. 
The soil left in this condition rapidly erodes after rains and the 
melting of snow in the springtime. The ground dries out 
quickly during summer and autumn. The streams are affected 
and sometimes completely dry up. The region is subjected to a 
very great fire hazard. All of this needs changing through 
public ownership. When this is effected the region will be 
capable of producing an income through the use of its resources 
which will make the park self-supporting. 

Proposed Develoiwients in the Allegany State Park 
In carrying out the provisions of the Allegany State Park 
law the commissioners have been confronted with an interest- 
ing problem. In substance, the state has asked the park com- 
missioners to acquire, in the name of the state, an area of 65^000 
acres. While doing this facilities must be provided for the 
use and enjoyment of the public. 

A Carefully Made Program Prepared for Park Developmeiht 
In order to have a well-considered program in executing the 
public charge that had been entrusted to them, the commission- 
ers secured the co-operation of the New York State College of 
Forestry in the preparation of a preliminary plan for the de- 
velopment of the resources of the park area. This plan has 
furnished the working basis for the activities of the Commis- 
sion. It embraces the essential requirements in making the 
park of the utmost use to the public. These needs may be gen- 
erally stated, in addition to land acquisition, as consisting of 
the following: roads and trails, fire protection, administrative 
sites, camping sites, water supply and sanitation, water areas 
for fish propagation and recreation uses, shelters and observa- 
tion towers. 

General Needs of the Park 
The experience of the Commission has shown that the funds 
required for the four outstanding needs in developing the park 
are as follows: 

1. Acquisition of additional lands $1,200,000 

2. Construction of roads and trails as a system 

throughout the park area 600,000 

3. Development of water areas for fishing, canoe- 

ing, boating, swimming and camping 100,000 

4. Provision of other permanent betterments, 

such as administrative buildings, camps, 

fire protection, water supply and sanitation 100,000 

Total $2,000,000 

29 






CAMPS ARE PROVIDED FOR PUBLIC USE SENECA INDIANS FROM NEIGHBORING 

RESERVATION IN WAR DANCE 

Detailed Statement of Needs 
We may emphasize these needs by an ontline of their im- 
portance. 

1. Acquisition of Additional Lands. It has been the ex- 
perience of all state park projects in New York that the acquisi- 
tion of land is the most pressing, important duty of the state. 
This is especially true of the Allegany State Park. Little land 
has thus far been acquired within the park boundaries. With- 
out extensive space made available to the public the park will 
fail to satisfy the purposes for which it has been created. The 
Allegany State Park is well suited to serve the large population 
of western New York as a wilderness playground. No other 
similar area is available. In order to fulfill its purposes, land 
acquisition by the state must be speedily pushed forward. The 
land is of greater value for public park purposes than for any 
other use. If land is acquired at present market prices the state 
will make an excellent investment. It has been carefully esti- 
mated that the sum of $1,200,000 made available to the com- 
mission for land acquisition over a period of seven years will 
purchase at present prices about 40,000 acres of land. It is 
conservative to estimate that the same program of land acquisi- 
tion ten years hence would cost the state at least twice this 
amount. The reasons for land acquisition in the Allegany State 
Park may be stated summarily as follows: 

a. The present area acquired is very small. 

b. Present land prices are low. 

c. People are demanding extensive space for public use. 

d. The park purchase area is the only available territory 

for a forest and stream playground for western New 
York. 

2, A Road and Trail System for the Park Area. Alter land 
is acquired by the state in the park purchase area the people 
must be permitted to circulate freely through it in order to en- 
joy its use. The Commission has already graded some narrow, 
rough dirt roads through the public property and, by permis- 
sion, over some of the privately owned lands. There are no im- 
proved roads at the present time in the park area. The public 

30 



Benefiting Population 

Allegany ^tate Park 




Jcjrw estozijii-^ ^f / ' / 



EACH DOT REPRESENTS ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE 

must, therefore, use hazardous, dusty roads in reaching the 
developed section of the park. 

A complete road system has been planned for the park. This 
system will open the entire resources of the park area to the 
public. It consists of one main road and several secondary 
roads. 

The main road will direct the bulk of the travel along a line 
which extends through as great a variety of conditions in the 
park as possible. Along this main road will naturally be de- 
veloped the intensive uses of the park. After careful study 
it has been decided that the best location for this principal 
thoroughfare is along the line shown on the plan for the park. 
This road approaches the park from the two logical points of 
entrance — Salamanca and Quaker Bridge. From the former 
point the road soon reaches the northern end of the chief ridge 
in the park, the top of which it follows. At frequent points 
along the route of this proposed road fascinating, extensive 
views of the surrounding country appear. At two points along 
this route observation stations are suggested. One of these 
will be a roadside observatory, the other will be a fire lookout, 
which is suggested for the highest known point in the park and 
which will be attainable from the main road by short travel on 
a side trail. At a section along the southern boundary of the 
park this proposed road arrives at a broad, level highland. 

31 



This proposed main thoroughfare in the park is named the 
' ' Eidge Eun Eoad. ' ' It will be located for a distance of about 
ten miles along the crest of a ridge. Also for about ten miles 
the road will be in an open valley or " run," the local name for 
a valley. In both the ridge region and the open valley country 
the road will possess great scenic attractiveness. Along the 
ridge there is no point where the roadway drops to an elevation 
of less than 2,200 feet above sea level. The roadway will wind 
from one side of the crest to the other with constantly chang- 
ing vistas of the surrounding country. It will be the longest 
scenic, high elevation road in the eastern United States. 

The secondary roads will in most cases be developed by 
using the present rough logging roads in the park area. There 
will be a few sections which will require new roads to make 
available the regions that otherwise would be beyond reach. 

The distance which the proposed main road covers is approxi- 
mately 25 miles. The extent of the proposed secondary roads is 
about 60 miles. The cost of construction of these roads \vhich 
are at present required for the use of the park and the extension 
of the system that will be demanded the next few years has 
been estimated at $600,000. 

3. Development of Wwter Areas. The recreational activi- 
ties which are made available through water areas of fair size 
within a park are always popular with park users. The total 
absence of lakes and ponds within the Allegany State Park pur- 
chase area necessitates the creating of a few artificial bodies of 
water. There is one location shown on the plan where the 
largest artificial lake could be created with the least cost. A 
survey for this project has been made for the Commission by 
the Department of State Engineer and Surveyor. The results of 
this survey show that the proposed lake, one and one-half miles 
long, can be created by dam construction and relocation of 
roadways at comparatively low costs. The development of 
water areas within the park for the propagation of fish and for 
recreational uses demands immediate attention and requires at 
least $100,000. 

4. Provision of Other Permanent Betterments. In the de- 
velopment of the park for the largest use of the public several 
permanent buildings for administrative i)urposes are greatly 
needed. These administrative centers should have buildings for 
the housing, storage and repair of the equipment and supplies of 
the park. These are absolutely essential to the welfare of the 
state's property, including upwards of a half million dollars' 
worth of surplus war stores. In addition to the administrative 
buildings there are now in demand a number of group camps 
similar to the ]n'esent camps for the use of the public. The de- 
mands on the i)ark by organized a'rou])s, such as the Boy Scouts 
and the Girl Scouts, Jamestown Health Gam}), Y. M. C. A., etc., 

33 




ELKO MOUNTAIN AND THE ALLEGHANY RIVER, A VIEW FROM THE HIGHW^AY 
NEAR QUAKER BRIDGE 

for camps, is far beyond the present resources of the Commission. 
It has been found that complete camp units, each providing 
accommodations for shelter, food and social life for 200 peo- 
ple_ at one time are in increasing demand. At the present rate 
of increase in the use of the park for group camping it is fair 
to predict a need by the public of at least 40 of these camps 
within the next seven years. 

Like every other forest area into which large numbers of 

34 



people go for hunting, fishing and camping, the Allegany State 
Park needs adequate protection from fire and the means of 
combating fire successfully. There is no provision for these 
needs at the present time. The area already acquired by the 
state within the park must be safeguarded in this respect. 

Temporary, inadequate means of supplying pure drinking 
water to the thousands who use the park have been installed. 
These means must be replaced by more permanent and ade- 
quate methods. The sanitation of the park is at present only 
of a temporary character. This problem of protecting the 
public against disease and the protection of streams from pollu- 
tion is one to which the Commission has given great concern. 
A well-considered plan for both water supply and sanitation for 
the park area has been devised which should be installed at the 
earliest possible moment. 

From all of the above it is plain that the Allegany State 
Park should have a much larger amount of state-owned land, 
a road and trail system and other permanent betterments if it 
is to serve the large population of the western end of the state 
(see table below) who are already making greater demands 
on the park than it has been possible to supply. 

Benefiting Counties in New York State 
Counties Population 1920 

Erie 634,688 

Monroe 352,034 

Niagara 118,705 

Chautauqua 115,348 

Steuben 80,627 

Chemung 71,323 

Ontario 65,872 

Genesee 37,976 

Allegany 36,842 

Livingston 36,830 

Wyoming 30,314 

Orleans 28,619 

Yates 16,641 

Schuyler 13,098 

Total 1,691,569 

Submitted by 

Albert T. Fancher^ Chairman. 
Chauncey J. Hamlin 
Fred G- Kaiser 
George C. Diehl 
Hamilton Ward 
; Commissioners of the Allegany State Park. 

Henry R. Francis^, Executive Secretary. 
35 



IV. 

PLAN TO ENLAEGE THE STATE RESERVATIOiN AT 
NIAGARA AND ESTABLISH THE NEW YORK STATE 
MEMORIAL RIVERWAYS AND RESERVES 

A wonderful opportunity is presented by the plan for ex- 
tending the New York State Reservation at Niagara from its 
present limits to Fort Niagara and Lake Ontario in one direct- 
tion, and to the city of Buffalo and Lake Erie in the other direc- 
tion. This would take in the whole of the river roads on the 
American side, as similar roads have been incorporated in the 
Canadian Reservation, and by the creation of occasional small 
parks or reserves and lookout points along the river, it would 
afford unlimited opportunities for the erection of special me- 
morials to our soldiers and sailors of the World War. 

This is a project which interests not only the people of west- 
ern New York but the whole state and indeed the nation, and 
our Canadian neighbors and foreign visitors as well. Niagara 
Falls is probably the most widely known place in the United 
States, and more generally visited by tourists than any other 
single attraction. 

The movement for the rescue of Niagara Falls from the 
hands of those who were spoiling its natural beauties began 
over 40 years ago. As a result of an international impulse, it 
was taken up and advocated by leading men from all over this 
country and from Canada. The movement took concrete form 
on the two sides of the river almost simultaneoush^, but the 
Canadians had an easier job and more favorable conditions, and 
they have already carried their Queen Victoria Park and the 
improved highways leading out of it to the limits of the river 
in each direction. 

On the New York side the first move was more difficult and 
far more expensive, and the New York State Reservation at 
Niagara has never been extended beyond its first limits. It 
includes Goat Island with Green Island and the other small 
isles surrounding it; also Prospect Park at the brink of the 
American Falls, and from that point extends in a narrow strip 
along the upper rapids to the intake of the Hydraulic PoAver 
Canal. This property originally cost the state of New York in 
1885 about $1,433,000, a very large sum for those days. Ob- 
stacles apparently insurperable have always prevented the fur- 
ther extension of the reservation either down or up the river. 
But plans are now presented through which much may be ac- 
complished. 

36 



A memorial to our soldiers and sailors of this charactei 
would attain world wide fame; and if, following this, the two 
reservations along the Niagara river, American and Canadian, 
can be united by a great memorial bridge, the grand project 
would seem to be complete. 

The principal features of this plan, so far as developed by 
the Commissioners of the State Eeservation at Niagara are 
shown in an act introduced in the legislature in 1921 and pre- 
viously. This act provided for the financing of the project by 
means of an annual charge or rental imposed on new water power 




NIAGARA FALLS 



developed at Niagara Falls since 1918. The same objects could 
be attained more rapidly by means of a bond issue, followed by 
direct appropriations. 

The plan in brief is to enlarge the State Reservation at 
Niagara and to create and add to it a system of memorial river- 
ways and reserves, extending along the Niagara river from 
Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, and connecting Port Porter with 
Fort Niagara, consisting of parks and public places reserved 
because of their beauty and commanding position for the free 
use of the public, connected by north and south memorial river- 
ways and with suitable structures thereon, all of which shall 

37 



Proposed fn/ardmenf of Sfafe Resen^afion af N/adara 

a/7c/ fsfaSf/shmeni drfl/etvyorA Sfafe Memorial fiiver l^ays and ffsserve 



?serves 



LAKE 



ONTA/^/0 




LAKE 

Praposed exfensions of Sfafe Reservarion fncf/cafecf in Red. 



38 



constitute a permanent and fitting memorial. The proposed ex- 
tension of the state reservation is to be known as the New York 
State Memorial Eiverways and Eeserves, the road northerly to 
Fort Niagara being ' ' North Memorial Riverway, ' ' and the road 
southerly towards Buffalo, " South Memorial Eiverway." 

The commissioners of the state reservation at Niagara would 
be authorized and directed to make plans and procure surveys 
and to take necessary steps to extend the state reservation as 
described, excepting lands in the cities of Tonawanda and North 
Tonawanda, it being the idea that the connecting roadway 
through those cities should be handled by the cities themselves 
under plans agreed upon. 

The commissioners would be authorized to take over in whole 
or in part the present river road extending from end to end of 
the Niagara river and generally close to the bank thereof, and 
they would have power to widen said roads and change the loca- 
tion thereof, or to provide an additional road or roads nearer 
to the river bank, where necessary or desirable, and for this 
purpose they would seek and obtain the co-operation of the cities 
and villages through which said roads pass. The present roads 
so included, except within these cities, would become part of 
the State Reservation at Niagara, and would be designated as 
state highways and constructed and maintained as other state 
highways are constructed and maintained, but the commissioners 
would have authority to protect and beautify these roads and to 
preserve them in all parts as beautiful parkways or riverways. 

The commissioners would also have the power to acquire 
tracts of land, of greater or less extent, of natural beauty and 
commanding position, lying between the main river roads and 
the bank of the Niagara River, or adjacent to river roads on 
either side, to be used as public parks and reserves, to be planted 
with trees and shrubs where this is necessary and restored to a 
state of natural beauty, with interior roads furnishing access to 
the bank of the river and to viewpoints over the waters of the 
river. :::Tiiey would select for this purpose suitable traL'ts of 
reasonable size, where the land can be acquired without cost 
or -ori reasonable terms. The interior roads through such re- 
serves would be built, maintained and controlled entirely by 
the 6ommissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara. 

SO'slar.asLyet planned, it is the intention of the commis- 
sioji^Lto.-be modest in acquiring land for these purposes, and 
not to be hurried, but to pick up suitable tracts of lands as they 
can advantageously be acquired and developed. Ideas at this 
moment do not go beyond one or two locations for reserves be- 
tween Buffalo and Niagara Falls, probably two resen^es be- 
tween Prospect Park in Niagara Falls and Lewiston, and about 
two more between Lewiston and Fort Niagara. 

Under the plan the commissioners would be authorized to 
acquire land for all such purposes, including changes in the 

39 




THE FALLS IN WINTER 

main roads, where necessary or desirable, either hj grits or 
grants or by conveyances, or by leases in perpetuity or for a 
term of years, or by licenses and also to acquire by condemna- 
tion any land not devoted to railroad or power uses, and not 
held or intended for such uses. All titles to such land, and all 
leases and licenses, would be taken in the name of the State of 
New York. 

In the original plan presented to the legislature, it was hoped 
to obtain not exceeding $500,000 from the state by direct ap- 
propriations over several years, and a sum of about $80,000 a 
year through a charge on water power. In the bill as last 
amended, there was provision for a very small initial appropria- 
tion, only to cover surve3''s and some preliminary expenses, and 
a pledge of additional sums up to $200,000 from the state, in 
addition to the annual charge on water power. It is anticipated 
that the project would require approximately $1,000,000 avail- 
able over a period of about seven to ten years, for extensions and 
permanent betterments. 

There is reason to hope that the measure in its essential form 
will commend itself to the people of the state in the near future, 
with proper provision for the gradual improvement of this fron- 
tier; and thus will be started a great plan of regional develop- 
ment along the Niagara Eiver of which we shall all be proud, 
and an imperishable memorial to our soldiers and sailors will 
be created. 

40 



m^:. 




PROPOSED 
DEVELOPMENTS 



LETCHWORTH PARK 



1. Glen Iris 

2. Museum 

3. Path from Museum to Council House Grou 

4. Indian Council House 

5. Mary Jemison Statue 

6. Mary Jemison Cabin 

7. Picnic Grounds 

8. Public Comfort Station 

9. Path to Mineral Spring 

10. Turning Place 

11. Stairway and Path at Railway Bridge 

12. Rustic Station 

13. James Hall Tablet 

14. Soldiers' Monument 

15. Superintendent's Residence 

16. Letchworth Parle Nursery 

17. Memorial Tablet at Inspiration Point 

18. Cole's Cliff 

19. Path from Inspiration Point to Lower Palls 

20. Shelter at Lower Falls 
Path into Gorge at Lower Falls 
Pine Tree Inn 

I 23. Garage 

' 24. Swimming and Wading Pools 
' 25. Bath House 
26, 27, 28. New Roads and Bridge 



t-OF-TAfiEVnit 



V. 

LETGHWORTH PAEK AND ITS PROPOSED DEVELOP 

MENT 

The Present Park 

Letch worth Park is a tract of 1,000 acres on the Genesee 
river, about fifty miles south of Rochester, which was given to 
the state in 1907 by the late Dr. William Pryor Letch worth, 
the philanthropist, and is by law in the custody of the Amer- 
ican Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. It lies on both 
sides of the river for the distance of about three miles and in- 
cludes a picturesque eroded gorge and the three famous Portage 
Falls. The scenery ranks second only to that of Niagara Falls 
in its class in the state of New York. The remarkable rock ex- 
posures in the gorge have given the name of the Portage Grroup 
to this geological formation wherever found. 

When Dr. Letchworth, then living in Buffalo, began h\ 1858 
his acquisitions of property at Portage, an old saw-mill and the 
debris of its operations disfigured the vicinity of the Middle 
Fall, and the adjacent forests had been robbed of their best 
trees. He removed the saw-mill, cleaned up the debris and re- 
planted the trees, meanwhile gradually increasing his acquisi- 
tions until he had the beautiful rural estate which, near the 
close of his life, he gave to the state. On one of his first visits 
to this place a rainbow spanned the gorge and led him to call 
the place ' ' Glen Iris. ' ' After the state decided to call the park 
Letchworth Park, the use of the name Glen Iris has been re- 
stricted to the residence which he occupied and which is now 
used for the accommodation of the public. The Glen Iris house 
is on a plateau overlooking the Middle Fall, in the midst of ex- 
tensive lawns adorned with majestic trees planted by Dr. Letch- 
worth about sixty years ago. A miniature lake and a jet foun- 
tain in its midst are fed from a reservoir on the hillside. 

In 1912-13 the American Scenic and Historic Preservation 
Society, with funds left by Dr. Letchworth, built near the Glen 
Iris mansion a stone library and museum building. It contains 
Dr. Letchworth 's valuable collection of works relating to chari- 
ties; and several thousand specimens illustrative of the primi- 
tive arts of the North American Indian. 

On another elevation in the rear of these buildings is a forest 
encircled plateau called the Council House Grounds, on which 
stand two log buildings — one being an ancient Council House 
of the Seneca Nation, and the other being the cabin in which 

41 




=^^XNSPIKATION 



^ND LOWER PALLS 



SCENES IN 

LETCHWORTH 

PARK 




ALONG THE 

GENESEE 

RIVER 



MIDDLE FALLS 




^^EN IfilS MANSlOJf 



INDIAN 



cox;Nax.HOT:SK 



42 



the daughter of Mary Jemison, the ' * white captive of the Gene- 
see " once lived. The former was brought from Caneadea and 
the latter from Gardeau. Near them is buried Mary Jemison, 
whose career among the Indians is a classic of the pioneer his- 
tory of western New York. In 1758 she was captured by In- 
dians at her home in Adams County, Penn., was taken first to 
Fort DuQuesne (Pittsburgh) and later farther down the Ohio. 
She was adopted by the Indians, married among them, and bore 
children. Before she was twenty years old she journeyed with 
her Indian relatives to the Seneca Village of Little Beard's Town, 
near Cuylerville on the Genesee river. At the Big Tree Council 
in Geneseo in 1797 she was granted nearly 18,000 acres in the 
Genesee Valley, known as the Gardeau tract. She died in 1833 
and was first buried at Buffalo. When her grave was threat- 
ened by civic improvements in 1874 her remains were taken to 
their present resting j)lace. Over her grave is a beautiful bronze 
statue, by H. K. Bush-Brown, representing the captive in Indian 
garb, with infant on her back, as she tramped with her captors 
from the valley of the Ohio to the valley of the Genesee. 

At the intersection of the road from Castile with the main 
road through the park stands the monument of the First New 
York Dragoons, originally erected on the right bank of the river, 
but moved recently to its present location at the request of the 
surviving veterans. 

Various parts of the park were used by Dr. Letchworth as 
farms and pastures, but these uses have been discontinued since 
Dr. Letchworth 's death; and part of the eligible ground has 
been used for an arboretum which was begun under the direc- 
tion of the late Dr. Charles M. Dow of Jamestown, when he was 
Director of the park. 

Besides the buildings previously mentioned, there are several 
others erected before the park was given to the state, notably 
those called Lauterbrunnen, now the superintendent's home; 
Prospect Home, now the Labor Center; and Chestnut Lawn. 

There are many remarkable viewpoints in the park, accessible 
by roadways and paths. From the foot-path on the Erie rail- 
road bridge, which spans the river just above the Upper Falls, 
one has a superb panorama both upstream and downstream. 
Almost directly below him, at a dizzy distance, is the crest of 
the Upper Falls which plunges 71 feet more to the next reach 
of the river. Leaving the bridge by long stairways, the visitor 
can see the Upper Falls from below, as one used to view the 
Canadian Fall at Niagara near the Eock of Ages. Strolling 
downstream half a mile he comes to the Middle Fall, with a 
drop of 107 feet. Continuing downstream to a jutting point 
near the entrance to the Glen Iris grounds, he has a superb view 
of the walls of the gorge. Half a mile farther down are Inspira- 
tion Point, commanding a fine view upstream; and Cole's Cliff, 

43 



from which Thomas Cole painted the picture of the gorge and 
falls which was presented to Governor Seward. A mile farther 
down are the Lower Falls, with Table Rock, Cathedral Rock 
and other interesting features. 

Letchworth Park offers many attractions to students of nat- 
ural phenomena. As an example of a gorge eroded by stream 
action, and following a post-glacial channel different from its 
pre-giacial channel, it is as interesting and typical as the Ni 
agara gorge. The rock exposures have been studied by Dr. 
James Hall, Dr. John M. Clarke, Prof. Henry L. Fairchikl, Dr. 
Amadeus W. Grabau, and other scientists who have made valu- 
able contributions to geological knowledge. The great variety 
of birds and wild flowers in the park is equally attractive to 
ornithologists and botanists. The great diversity of the topo- 
graphy of the estate thus acquired has made it the habitat of 
a remarkable variety of flora and fauna. Beginning with the 
earliest anemones and bloodroots, and, as the season advances, 
running on through the houstonias, violets, columbines, trinity 
flower, mandrakes, azaleas, laurel, golden rods and countless 
others, the flowers of Glen Iris range through a spectrum of col- 
ors that rivals the rainbow which gave the glen its name. The 
Hon. George W. Clinton, formerly President of the Society of 
Natural Sciences of Buffalo, who spent much time at Portage, 
says that a greater variety of i)lant life can be found there than 
in any other locality of which he has knowledge. And Mr. 
Eldredge E. Fish, the author and naturalist, says: " In many 
respects this charming retreat surpasses any other in its attrac- 
tions for the naturalist. The flora is more abundant and varied, 
while the song-birds are here in greater numbers than in any 
other locality in the state." 

Proposed Developments 

Before Dr. Letchworth gave the park to the state he admitted 
the public to share its beauties, but there were necessary limita- 
tions to the public enjoyment while it was still private prop- 
erty. Since it has become the property of the people, however, 
it has been thronged with visitors in constantly increasing num- 
bers; and the experience of fifteen years since Dr. Letchworth 
gave it to the state, and of twelve years since his death, has 
shown the need for certain additional facilities in order ade- 
quately to meet public requirements. These facilities are of 
three main classes — buildings, roads and bridges. 

In the first place, there is an increasing demand for the ac- 
commodation of visitors who desire to spend more than half a 
day in the park. At present, the Glen Iris Mansion is used as 
an inn from May until October, but with its limited accommoda- 
tions it can lodge only about 1,600 persons and serve about 8,000 
meals a season; and it is now necessary to deny the Isrge num- 

44 



/ 







45 



ber of applications beyond these numbers. It is therefore pro- 
posed to build an inn in a grove on the left bank of the river 
half a mile in an air-line northeast of Glen Iris at the place 
called Cole's Clitf. This point is about one-third of the distance 
from the Middle Fall to the Lower Fall, on the rim^ of the deep 
Portage gorge, and at such a bend in the river that it comntands 
beautiful prospects up-stream (southwestward) and down- 
stream (eastward), the view expanding in a superb panorama to 
the distant hills. This inn has now become a pressing necessity. 
Unlike Niagara Falls Reservation, Letchworth Park has no 
hotels close by its borders. In land area, the park is about 
eight times as large as the Niagara reservation, and the nearest 
hotels outside its border are at Castile, three miles to the north- 
ward, and Portageville, two miles to the southwestward by a 
circuitous and inconvenient route, and these are small and in- 
adequate. 

The plan for the inn includes as minor adjuncts a garage and 
a swimming pool. The latter is to be made by damming a 
neighboring brook after the manner of the artificial lakes in 
the Palisades Park, thus supplying a healthful form of recrea- 
tion not otherwise to be had safely within a radius of several 
miles. 

The second improvement provides for two new entrances to 
the park and an additional road within the park. The main 
approach to the park is now by the road from Castile. There 
is no entrance from the region lying east and south of the river, 
and only an inconvenient and roundabout approach from the 
west. The great automobile-using public demands better facili- 
ties for getting into the park and for bridging the moat between 
Livingston and Wyoming counties. Even with present ob- 
stacles, the park is a favorite resort for tourists, and the pro- 
vision of the new approaches will not only bring the benefit of 
the park within the reach of a vastly increased number of mo- 
torists, but will also immensely facilitate cross-country travel. 
It is therefor proposed: 

(a) To construct an approach to the western end of the park 
by means of a road branching off from the Portageville-Castile 
highway* at the top of the Portageville hill, and running thence 
in a generally northeasterly direction into the park, passing 
under the northwesterly end of the Erie railroad bridge on the 
left bank of the river, and thence crossing the gulley of De-ge- 
wa-nus-Creek by means of a new bridge having its foundation 
on solid rock. 

(b) To construct an approach from the southeastward by 
means of a road leaving the Portage-Nunda-Rochester state 
highway at Portage station of the Erie railroad, and running 
thence a few" hundred feet westward near the Erie railroad track, 

* The Portageville-Castile highway is to be improved by the State. 

A6 



M 




47 



tlience passing northeastward under the southeastern end of the 
Erie railroad viaduct and continuing northeastward gradually 
down the steep right bank to the level of the Pennsylvania rail- 
road, thence turning northwestward and crossing the Genesee 
River just above the Middle Fall by means of the proposed 
bridge mentioned hereafter. This route connecting the Portage- 
Nunda-Rochester highway with the Letchworth Park-Castile 
highway will be of immense public convenience, quite irrespec- 
tive of the park. 

(c) To construct a highway on the left bank from Inspira- 
tion Point along the existing foot-path to the Lower Fall. The 
present road from Glen Iris eastward to the Lower Fall is 
mostly remote from the river and terminates at the Lower Fall 
at a very considerable elevation above Table Rock. The new 
road will open up a mile of superb scenery along the gorge 
and take the visitor by an easy grade down to the picnic ground 
almost on the level of Table Rock. 

The third important improvement is the proposed bridge 
across the Genesee River just above the Middle Fall approxi- 
mately on the site of the private bridge which once spanned the 
river at tliat point. The river here is shallow; the bed suitable 
and easil\' built over; the terminal on the left bank is near the 
l^resent picnic grounds; and the terminal on the bluff of the right 
bank is favorable for an easy gradient of approach from the 
connecting road. It is proposed that in form the bridge have 
a long central arch framing the view of the Upper Falls and 
flanked at each end by a smaller arch, and that in material it 
be either entirely of native stone or of reinforced concrete, faced 
with stone, so as to blend with the natural surroundings. At 
present there is no public passage across the Genesee river be- 
tween Portageville and St. Helena, a distance of about seven 
miles by nearest road in Livingston county and ten miles by 
nearest road in Wyoming county. The new bridge will therefore 
be of very great convenience and of general public value to a 
considerable section of western New York, in addition to form- 
ing a portal to Letchworth Park. 



48 




RAINBOW FALLS — WATKINS GLEN STATE RESERVATION 



VI. 

THE PROPOSED FINGER LAKES PARK SYSTEM 

The state of New York owns two parks in the Finger Lakes 
Region — Watkins Glen Reservation and the Enfield Falls Res- 
ervation. Watkins Glen was purchased by the state in 1906 at 
the instance of the American Scenic and Historical Society. 
Enfield Falls Reservation was given to the state in 1920 by Mr. 
and Mrs. Robert H. Treman of Ithaca. 

The Finger Lakes Association, a federation of the chambers 

49 



of commerce and community organizations of 24 cities and 
villages in central New York, believes the state should first 
give attention to the completion of the existing state parks. 
The Watkins Glen Reservation is in very good condition but 
much work remains to be done on the Enfield Falls Eeservation. 
The state has thus far appropriated no money for permanent 
improvements. In three years it has given the commission 
$4,000 for maintenance. This has proved inadequate for the 
work which the commission has in mind. The Enfield Falls 
Reservation Commission has drafted tentative plans calling for 
an expenditure of $100,000 for the development of the park. 
This will provide for the opening up of both the lower and upper 
ends of the reservation, construction of roads, rest houses and 
other facilities which are needed for the complete utilization of 
the park. 

Proposed 'New State Parks 
The Finger Lakes Association considers Taughannock Falls 
with its beautiful gorges, both above and below the main fpUs, 
as the most important scenic spot in the Finger Lakes which 
has not yet been given attention. If after the state acquires this 
property and provides for making it entirely accessible to the 
residents of the state and tourists, it is still able to continue the 
work of opening up beauty spots, the Association calls attention 
to Bare Hill on Canadaigua Lake, Bluff Point on Lake Keuka, 
Chequaga Falls and Montour Glen near the village of Montour 
Falls, Buttermilk Falls and Glen near Ithaca, Fillmore Glen snd 
the birthplace of Millard Fillmore near Moravia. For secondary 
consideration the Finger Lakes Association presents Connecticut 
Hill between Ithaca and Watkins, Great Gully between Union 
Springs and Aurora, Red Jacket's birthplace on Cayuga Lake 
near Canoga and the glens along the western shore of Owasco 
Lake. The Finger Lakes Association has not yet drafted plans 
sufficiently definite to present figures as to acreage, cost of ac- 
quiring lands and cost of development. The Association will 
use its best offices to secure for the state a donation of property 
needed for these parks. In the case of Buttermilk Falls, the 
Association is assured by the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. 
Treman of Ithaca, that this property will be placed at the dis- 
posal of the state whenever the state is ready to agree to a plan 
of development suitable to the owners. The Fillmore birthplace 
is now owned by the Cayuga County Historical Society which is 
holding the property until such time as the state is ready to take 
it over. The Association believes that it will be able to supply 
the funds for the purchase of each of the properties suggested in 
this report. 

Watkins Glen State Reservation 
Watkins Glen has long been classed with Niagara Falls, the 
Mammoth Cave, the Natural Bridge of Virginia, and the Na- 

50 




CAVERN CASCADE — WATKINS GLEN 



BRIDAL VEIL FALLS — MONTOUR GLEN 



tional Parks of the west as one of the scenic wonders of Amenca. 
It is the objective of thousands of automobile tourists every 
year. It is the best known show place in the entire Finger Lakes 
Eegion. 

From the main street of the village of Watkins, the gorge ex- 
tends back into the hillside for a distance of two miles. The 
state controls 103 acres, embracing the gorge and its wooded 
banks. Through the reservation, a stream drops nearly 700 
feet in a series of waterfalls, cascades and rapids. 

Watkins Glen is particularly pleasing because of its variety. 

51 




LUCIFER FALLS, 200 FEET — ENFIELD FALLS STATE RESERVATION 

There is no single cataract which awes the visitor but a succes- 
sion of falls, cascades, pools and rapids. The walls of the glen 
tower 150 to 180 feet above the water of the stream. 

Enfield Falls State Reservation 
After being in the possession of Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. 
Treman of Ithaca for a number of years, during which tiine the 
owners spent several thousand dollars in making the property 
accessible to the public, Enfield Falls Reservation was given 
to the State of New York in 1920. The property comprises 400 
acres and stretches from the Ithaca-Elmira highway westward 

52 



■^.u^^^ 




BLUFF POINTj LAKE KEUKA, NEAR PENN YAN 

for approximately two and one-half miles into the hillside. The 
gorge has been cut by Butternut Lake which drains a large 
area in the western part of Tompkins County. One of the most 
satisfactory things about the Enfield Falls Reservation is that 
the stream maintains a good flow throughout the year. In this 
respect the gorge differs from a number of others in the region. 
The ultimate development of the Reservation by the State Com- 
mission provides for picnic grounds at both the upper and lower 
entrances with rest pavilions and other facilities which will 
make it possible for the public to enjoy the beauties of the glen. 
At small expense it is possible to provide swimming pools at 
both ends of the Reservation. 

The main falls in Enfield is known as Lucifer Falls. It is 
210 feet high and of considerable width. There are a number 
of small falls throughout the gorge. The rock formation is 
of particular interest to students of nature as are the trees and 
other flora. The glen has been preserved in its natural state 
and it is the policy of the Commission to maintain it in this con- 

^^*^^^^- Taughannock Falls 

Taughannock Falls, known throughout the East as the great- 
est single waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains, deserves the 
first attention of the state in the opinion of the Finger Lakes 
Association. In a sheer drop of 215 feet, Taughannock Creek 
falls over a ledge of rock from a deep gorge into a deeper gorge 




BARE HiLL, CAXANDAIGUA LAKE^ NEAR CANANDAIGUA 

53 




TAUGHAXXOCK FALLS^ 215 FEET, 50 FEET HIGHER THAN NIAGARA 



below. Second only to the fall itself in general interest is the 
gorge, the cliffs of which rise to a height of nearly 400 feet at 
the fall. 

Unfortunately, Taughannock Falls is two miles removed 
from the main state highway connecting Ithaca with Greneva 
and the roads leading to it are not in good condition for mach 
of the year. This condition makes it difficult for many resi- 
dents of the state and tourists to visit this wonder of nature. 
Those who do take the trouble are well repaid, however, and 
since the Finger Lakes Association has given the fall such wide 
publicity it is being visited annually by thousands of motorists. 

54 



Taughannock Falls has the distinction of being the only 
great fall and gorge in the region easily accessible by water. 
The main fall is within a mile of Cayuga Lake where a large 
delta provides adequate picnic and camping space. Being con- 
nected with the barge canal system of the state, a park at Taug- 
hannock Falls would be accessible by water to a great portion 

of the state. „ tt-„ 

Bare Hill 

The Finger Lakes Association believes that the state should 
take over Bare Hill, " the G-arden of Eden of the Iroquois," as 
a state park. This hill, which is just as bare as its name implies, 
rises to an altitude of 1,540 feet above the eastern shore of 
Canandaigua Lake, a few miles south of the village of Canan- 
daigua. The Iroquois called the hill Nun-do-wa-o-no and be- 
lieved that from this hill sprang the Senecas or Sonontowans, 
the Great Hill people. The Senecas were the most powerful of 
the Six Nations. They were the guardians of the western door 
of the Iroquois Long House. Until very recent years the Seneca 
Indians made annual pilgrimages to Bare Hill and performed 
sacred rites on the spot where, according to their traditions, 

their race was born. o? «• t> • x 

Bluf Point 

Bluff Point would furnish the location for another of the 
Finger Lakes parks. This lofty promontory which divides I^ake 
Keuka into its branches rises 720 feet above the surface of the 
lake. It is particularly desirable for two reasons: the wonder- 
ful view which the tourist obtains from its summit and its ac- 
cessibility by automobile road. Very little expense would be 
involved in laying out the top of this promontory as a tourist 

Cheqiiaga Falls and Montour Glen 
Chequaga Falls and Montour Glen, the former in the village 
of Montour Falls and the latter just south of the village, are 
both worthy of preservation by the state, not only because of 
their scenic beauty but also because of their historical associa- 
tions. The glen is near the Indian village of Catherine Montour, 
the renowned Queen Catherine of the Seneca Indians. General 
Sullivan, acting under orders of General Washington to crush 
forever the power of the Iroquois League, destroyed Catherine's 
Town in 1779. 

Buttermilk Falls and Glen 
Buttermilk Falls and Glen, two miles south of Ithaca on the 
highway between Ithaca and Watkins, has been opened to the 
public for a number of years. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Eobert 
H. Treman of Ithaca, have gone to much expense to erect stairs 
and guard rails and provide paths for the convenience of per- 
sons wishing to explore the glen. In the distance of a mile, 
Buttermilk Creek falls more than 500 feet in a series of cascades, 
rapids and waterfalls. The gorge is of much interest to the na- 
ture lover. At the foot of the falls an ample parking space ad- 

55 




IX BUTTERMILK CLE'S. XEAS ITHACA 



joins the state ingiiTvay. Tliere is a natural swimming pool 
wMcli can be very much enlarged if tlie state takes over tlie 
property. One of tlie most beantifnl camp sites in the Finger 
Lakes Eegion is fonncl at the foot of Bnttennilk Falls, 

Filhnore Birthplace and Glen 
Ann arc! Fillmore, thirteenth President of the United States, 
was l3om in the Finger Lakes Eegion near the village of Alo- 
ravia. The officers of the Finger Lakes Association believe that 
his birthplace shonld be preserved as a national shrine. With 
this in view they have already secnred title to the property 




EXrrTZRMILK FALLS, FROII ITHACA — WATKIXS' HIGHV," 

56 




CASCADE GLEX, NEAR MORAVIA 



FILLilORE GLEX. XEAR MORAVIA 



wMcli is now being held by the Cayuga County Historical So- 
ciety. Xear the village of Moravia there is a large and interest- 
ing glen which has been christened Fillmore Glen. As a boy 
Millard Fillmore roamed the hills and valleys in the vicinity of 
Fillmore Glen and the Association believes it would be wise to 
place the glen and his birthplace in one park. 

Connecticut Hill 
Connecticut EUll, which is located midway between Itliaca 
and Watkins, is the highest point in the Finger Lakes Eegion. 
The hill is 2,095 feet above sea level. Several hundred acres of 
land could be purchased at small expense and reforested. The 
hill is part of the watershed of Butternut Creek which passes 
through Enfield Glen. 

Red Jacket State Park 
If the state wishes to perpetuate the inhabitation of the 
Finger Lakes Eegion by the Iroquois, provisions should be made 
for a park in the vicinity of Canoga on Cayuga Lake, near the 
birthplace of Eed Jacket, known to the Indians as Sa-go-ye-wat- 
ha. A park for tourists could be provided on the shores of 
Cayuga Lake near the handsome monument erected to Eed 
Jacket. The remains of this famous Indian Chief and orator 
were brought from Buffalo a number of years ago and placed 
under the monument. Eed Jacket was of great" assistance to 
President TVashingtou and other leaders of the nation in its 

57 




CHEQUAGA lALLb — AlUiNTOUR FALLS 



early days in bringing about a better feeling between the Iro- 
quois and the new government. 

Great Gnlhj 

Great Gully, which is located on the shore of Cayuga Lake 
between Union Springs and Aurora, is the center of some of 
the earliest activities of the Jesuit missionaries in central New 
York. The Jesuits erected a church in 1656. A state park in 
the vicinity of Great Gully would be accessible to Auburn, the 
largest city in the Finger Lakes Eegion. 

Several of the glens along the west shore of Owasco Lake 
between Auburn and Moravia should be included in the genera? 
plan of development of the Finger Lakes Eegion. 

58 



^^ Rn^erla^es J/ 
Fhrks and Highways 

Present and Proposed Developments 



LEGEND 
EXISTING STATE PARKS O 
PROPOSED STATE PARKS ti 
IMPROVED HIGHWAVS imm 
PROPOSED IMPROVED HIGHWAYS ■ ■ ■ ■ 



SCALE o^fllLES 



SYRACUSE 



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tir Fj'lliAore Glen 



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^Djrthplace oi 

Fillmore Homer 







MAP OF PRESENT AND PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF FINGER LAKES PARKS 



59 




THE BRONX RIVER PARKWAY AT SCARSDALE 



VII. 

THE PEOPOSED PARKAVAY FROM NEW YORK CITY TO 
BEAR MOUNTAIN PARK 

This project will provide the remaining link necessary to 
complete a grand circuit from New York City through what is 
destined to be the world 's greatest outer park system. 

The parks and boulevards in Manhattan and The Bronx con- 
nect with The Bronx River Parkway, which, in 1924, will be 
completed to the Kensico Dam and Reservoir in Westchester 
County. From the dam it is 22 miles past lakes and reservoirs 
to Mohansic Park and another 12 miles to Anthony's Nose, 
where the new bridge will span the Hudson to Bear Mountain 
Park. Already on heavy traffic days the many excellent high- 
ways in Westchester County are filled to capacity with an ever- 
increasing volume of pleasure vehicles surging out from New 
York City. With the completion of The Bronx River Parkway, 
the first objective will be the Kensico Dam — 25 miles from the 
Plaza at 59th street. The second objective will be Mohansic 
Park — 22 miles farther north. Thence another 13 miles, to Bear 
Mountain and the Palisades Interstate Park System of 36,000 
acres to be made directly accessible by the new bridge. From 
Bear Mountain down through the Palisades system to the new 
vehicular tunnel or Hudson River ferries to Manhattan com- 
pletes a splendid circuit of approximately 125 miles, which will 
be directly available for the seven million people residing in 
this part of the State of New York. 

60 




VIEW ON THE BRONX RIVER PARKWAY 



Scope of the Project 
The $1,000,000 set down for this project is needed for ac- 
quiring and improving lands between the Kensico Dam and 
the approaches to the Bear Mountain Bridge. Advantage will 
be taken of existing main highways and cheap lands along ad- 
jacent water courses, including ponds or small lakes available 
for park features along this connecting route. It is the purpose 
to acquire many of the choicest bits of landscape and at the 
same time provide for widening existing rights-of-way and 
eliminating dangerous curves. In some locations considerable 
areas of picturesque woodlands are available at low cost, which 
will provide liberal spaces for picnicking and other recreation 
areas. There is urgent demand for such picnicking spaces, 
where motor parties can park safely and avoid obstructing 
traffic and the dangers incident to picnicking at the roadside. 

Details of the Grand Circuit 

Starting at 59th Street Plaza, go through Central Park to 
110th street and 7th avenue. Thence through 7th Avenue Boule- 
vard to 145th street and across the Harlem River to the Grand 
Boulevard and Concourse. Thence along the Concourse to 

61 




MOHANSIC LAKE 



Mosholu Parkway. Turn east on Mosholu Parkway to Botanical 
Gardens and Bronx Park, going northerly through the upper 
end of Bronx Park to the southerly terminus of The Bronx River 
Parkway. Follow The Bronx River Parkway Drive I5I/2 miles 
to the Kensico Dam and Reservoir. Thence over the proposed 
new connecting parkway crossing Croton Reservoir at Pines 
Bridge and through Yorktown Heights to Mohansic Park. Pass- 
ing through Mohansic Park and continuing along the proposed 
new parkway to Peekskill, the route leads to Roa Hook and 
over the proposed new approach roads to be built by the Bridge 
Company, to the east bank of the Hudson River at Anthony's 
Nose. Thence over the new Hudson River bridge to Bear Moun- 
tain Park. From this point it is but a few miles northerly to 
West Point and the Storm King Highway. 

Returning from Bear Mountain Park there is a choice of 
routes through different sections of the Palisades Interstate 
Park system. The first route follows along the west side of the 
Hudson River through the park areas of Rockland Lake, Blau- 
velt Rifle Range and the upper Palisades to Alpine and thence 
on the new road at the foot of the Palisades to Dyckman Street 
ferry. 

The second or alternative route returning from Bear Moun- 
tain lies through the Harriman Park to Tuxedo and thence via 
Suffern to connect with the first route at Nyack. Arriving by 
either route at the west side of the Hudson opposite Dyckman 
street, take Dyckman street or Fort Lee ferry to Manhattan; 

62 




63 



thence from either ferry south along Eiverside Drive to 72d 
street and east on 72d street to Central Park. Thence through 
Central Park to the starting point at 59th Street Plaza. In lieu 
of crossing on Dyckman street or Fort Lee ferries, one can con- 
tinue south along Hudson Boulevard to 42d street or 34th street 
ferry or to the vehicular tunnel now in course of construction. 

Features of the Grand Gircmt 

The opportunity to connect in the manner described above 
so many noted parks and parkways is perhaps unparalleled in 
the history of such developments. From the 59th Street Plaza 
the Queensboro Bridge provides a direct connection to the pro- 
posed Roosevelt Parkway and Park on the north shore of Long 
Island and to the great Queens Boulevard, which is about to 
be improved to Jamaica, where it will connect with the main 
traffic arteries of Long Island. In The Bronx the circuit will 
have direct connections with Yan Cortlandt Park, Crotona Park, 
Pelham Bay Park, Pelham Parkway and the New York Zoologi- 
cal Park. 

Bronx River Parkway 

The Bronx Elver Parkway follows along both sides of the 
Bronx River through Mount Yernon and White Plains, forming a 
direct route between Bronx Park and the Kensico Dam and 
Reservoir. The Parkway Reservation varies in width from 200 
to 1,200 feet with an average Avidth of about 600 feet. The drive- 
way is being paved 40 feet in width and two sections aggregat- 
ing six miles in length are now open for traffic. The grading 
for the remainder of the driveway is finished and it is expected 
to complete the paving in 1923. The Bronx River is the chief 
landscape feature and, by natural treatment throughout, the 
valley is being restored to its former beautiful condition. 

Kensico Dam and Reservoir 

The Kensico Dam is architecturally the finest of the great 
dams of the world. It impounds a reservoir with water surface 
of 2,000 acres, protected by a marginal area of 2,500 acres, mak- 
ing a total of 4,500 acress acquired by the City of New York for 
water supply purposes. Approximately $10,000,000 has been ex- 
pended by the city in this area which constitutes a most beautiful 
outer park with good highway around the lake and with hun- 
dreds of thousands of evergreen trees rapidly developing on the 
protective areas. Crossing over the top of the dam and following 
along the west side of the lake about three-fourths of a mile, 
one fijids a group of 1,800 aeration fountains, a magnificent 
spectacle in constant play. From the Kensico Dam and Reser- 
voir the proposed connecting parkway passes through the 
beautiful upper "Westchester hill country, and follows along 

64 




65 




66 



the shores of the Croton Reservoir to the road leading north to 
Yorktown Heights and Mohansic Park. 

Mohansic Park 

Mohansic Park has an area of approximately 1,100 acres and 
includes Mohansic Lake, over one mile in length. The park 
area was acquired by the State of New York for institutional 
purposes, which institutions were objected to because of the 
situation on New York City' s watershed. Last year by authori- 
zation of the legislature this area was turned over to the West- 
chester County Park Commission, upon condition that it be 
developed and maintained as a park for the use of all of the 
people of the state. First attention is being given to the de- 
velopment of picnicking and camping facilities. Mohansic 
Park will be a convenient and popular tarrying place along the 
Grand Circuit. 

Bear Mountain Hudson BAver Bridge 

The Bear Mountain Hudson River Bridge Company was 
granted a charter by the Legislature in 1922. The bridge will 
cross the Hudson from Anthony's Nose to Bear Mountain Park 
near Bear Mountain Inn and both the bridge and its approaches 
leading from the Albany Post Road will be built by private 
capital. 

Bear Mountain Park 

The Palisades Interstate Park system is too well known to 
require extended mention here and is also referred to elsewhere 
in this report. Its vast areas and facilities will be made more 
easily accessible upon the completion of the improvements herein 
described. 



67 




ON THE AXIS OF THE MAIN APPROACH, STANDING OUT IN FIEM SILHOUETTE AGAINST THE 
BACKGROUND OF THE BAY AND THE DISTANT HILLS OF CENTRE ISLAND, SHOULD BE 
A GREAT FLAG-POLE WITH A MONUMENTAL BASE 



VIII. 



THE EOOSEVELT MEMORIAL PARK AND PARKWAY 

Oyster Bay, on the north shore of Long Island, has become 
an historical spot enshrined in the hearts of patriotic Ameri- 
cans. Here, on Sagamore Hill, lived Theodore Roosevelt. Here, 
on the shady hill overlooking the beautiful waters of Oyster 
Bay and Long Island Sound, that great American rests for- 
ever. 

Each week, towards Oyster Bay, thousands from near and 
distant parts of the Empire State crowd the roads beyond the 

68 




SCENES 

ALONG PROPOSED 

PARKWAY 





danger point. At Oyster Bay no special provision has been 
made to care for visitors and no memorial has been created in 
recognition of our former great Governor who later became 
President of the United States. 

The Oyster Bay Memorial Association, composed of Theo- 
dore Eoosevelt's friends and neighbors, has been formed to 
establish a Memorial Park on the shore of the Bay, and the Na- 
tional Roosevelt Association, Inc., has pledged aid to develop 
and maintain the park which will ultimately contain at least 
53 acres of waterfront property. 

In order to hasten the construction of this Roosevelt Me- 
morial Park and permit the state to share in this memodal 

69 



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ro BE ACQUIRED TOR THE PROPOSED SITE OF 

ROOSEVELT PARK 

OYSTER BAY. L. . I 



to its great cdtizen, it is now proposed to add to the sum already 
raised by private contributions sufficient money from the state 
to complete the park at once. In order to provide an adequate 
and dignified approach the Roosevelt Memorial Parkway is 
proposed, which will follow existing roads from Oyster Bay 
to the Xew York City line, some sixteen miles distant. 

Each week thousands of automobilists throng the route oi 
the proposed parkway endeavoring to visit Oyster Bay and 
reach the beautiful open country extending for many miles to 
the eastward, and at this time it is difficult for them to do so 
because the road congestion is so great that it becomes very 
difficult to reach either Oyster Bay or the country beyond 
quickly enough to allow sufficient time for recreation. 

Perhaps the best way to describe the Eoosevelt Memorial 
Park and Parkway scenically is to follow the route from the 
New York City line where it will connect with a boulevard al- 
ready partially completed in and by Xew York City. 

Travelling east one drives past the Great Xeck Peninsula 
over a tree-lined road through open country and then drops 
swiftly into Manhasset at the head of Manhasset Bay, thence 
climbing rapidly after jDassing a small and attractive lake to 
the highlands of Manhasset Xeck, from which an extended view 
is obtained northward to Hempstead Harbor and Long Island 
Sound. 

Hugging the side of an almost clifflike hill the route is fol- 
lowed down to the headwaters of Hempstead Harbor and 
through the beautiful village of Eoslyn with its three lakes 
and the well-preserved home of William Cullen Bryant, and 
then, after a climb of 200 feet to a plateau, through Brook^ille 
to East Xorwich. This section is high and a broad view of 
wooded and open country is obtained. From East Xorwich it 
is possible to leave the parkway and continue directly east 
for many miles along the north shore of Long Island with its 
numerous and beautiful harbors and recreational spots. 

At East Xorwich a turn to the left opens up a beautiful 
descending road which suddenly terminates at the edge of 
Oyster Bay, at the site of the Memorial Park, from which a 
panorama extends in three directions from Bayville on the 
Sound, past Centre Island to Sagamore Hill and the simple 
cemetery where Eoosevelt sleeps. 

The thousands from Xew York City and the rest of the state 
who make this pilgrimage often pass along the route just de- 
scribed at the rate of 800 to 1,000 automobiles per hour. 

It is necessary to provide the park not only as a memorial 
but to care for the thousands of visitors who already throng 
the vicinity and who are rapidly increasing in number. 



71 





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The primary expenditures would, of course, be for the com- 
pletion of the Memorial Park. In addition it will be necessary 
to acquire land at various points along the route to Oyster Bay 
to create a fairly broad parkway with larger park tracts at ap- 
propriate places. The roadway itself will be taken into the 
state highway system and widened where necessary, leaving 
the roadside lands to be developed through the Eoosevelt Me- 
morial Park and Parkway plan. 

There can be no criticism of the Memorial Park, and the 
fact that the roads leading to the park are not even state high- 
ways indicates the necessity for adequate approach. 

It has been proposed that the trees lining the parkway be 
each named in memory of one who has died in the military or 
naval service of our country. 

It is proposed that the monies for the Eoosevelt Memorial 
Park and Parkway shall be expended by a Commission con- 
stituted by the legislature to be known as the Eoosevelt Me- 
morial Park Commission, and it is estimated that the million 
dollars asked for this project will complete the necessary im- 
provements. 

A fitting memorial to a great man which also provides means 
for many thousands to enjoy the wonderful country and beauti- 
ful waters which he so greatly loved; this is the purpose of the 
Eoosevelt Memorial Park and Parkway. 




COLONEL Roosevelt's grave 



72> 



IX 

OTHER PEOPOSED PAEK DEVELOPMENTS 

It is proposed that there be set aside a sum of not less than 
$750,000 for the further development and connection of state 
parks other than those provided for in the preceding chapters 
and for new state parks where population needs require and 
the appropriate forest lands are available. The committee has 
not thought it desirable to attempt to recommend every project 
which should be undertaken through the use of this fund. 
There are, however, three projects of outstanding importance 
which should certainly be considered in this connection in ad- 
vance of other projects, though not to the exclusion of them. 
One of these projects calls for the extension and development 
of the Saratoga State Reservation which has enjoyed enormous 
popularity in spite of inadequate facilities. Another is the pro- 
posed new tri-state park which will ultimately involve the co- 
operation of the states of New York, Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut in the establishment of a park or forest in the Taconic 
mountain region. A third is the further development of the 
beautiful John Boyd Thacher Park in the neighborhood of 
Albany. These projects are briefly described below. 

EXTENSION OF THE' SARATOGA SPRINGS RESERVATION 

The first white man to use the waters of Saratoga Springs 
for medicinal purposes was Sir William Johnson. Severely 
wounded in 1767, he was brought to the Springs by the Mohawk 
Indians whom he had befriended. From then on the Springs 
grew in popularity. 

In 1909 the State appropriated $600,000 for the purchase or 
condemnation of all the natural medicinal springs of Saratoga 
Springs and vicinity. An additional $350,000 was appropriated 
in 1911. In 1915 $99,000 was appropriated for the same purpose. 
In addition to this, there was appropriated at various times 
and in different amounts $376,000 which was spent by the Reser- 
vation Commission for expenses and development previous to 
the taking over of the Reservation by the Conservation Com- 
mission in 1916. A considerable part of these monies has been 
appropriated from a special Saratoga Springs Reservation bond 
issue. 

The purchase and restoration of the springs by the state 
caused a renewed interest in the springs and since then they 
have grown more and more popular until now 1,500 baths and 
treatments are given daily during the summer months. 

74 



The number of treatments from 1915 to 1920 increased from 
11,292 to 53,000. 

The following table of receipts from 1914 to 1920 is in- 

1914,* by State Eeservation $1,085 . 33 

1915, by State Eeservation 14,891 . 22 

1916, by Conservation Commission 59,518 . 05 

1917, by Conservation Commission 63,495 . 67 

1918, by Conservation Commission 81,773 . 50 

1919, by Conservation Commission 103,542.30 

1920, by Conservation Commission 68,555 . 92 

(July 1 to December 31 — 6 months only.) 

The reservation now comprises about 550 acres of land, 122 
wells and springs, and three modern bathhouses, as well as two 
bottling plants equipped with special bottling machinery. 

In its report to the Legislature in 1918 the Conservation Com- 
mission recommended that ' ' an appropriation is requested with 
which to at least begin construction of a suitable bath house 
and drinking hall upon the State Eeservation at Saratoga 
Springs." This was renewed in 1919 and 1920. 

The increased business has proved conclusively that there is 
a great demand for the therapeutic treatment available there 
and the people are waiting only for the time when the state 
will make adequate provision. 

About 355 acres of land lying south of the Lincoln Park and 
west of Geyser Park and adjacent to the state properties have 




AERIAL VIEW OF SARATOGA BATHHOUSES 

75 



been acquired by private purchase at a cost of about $300,000. 
This property is now being held for acquisition by the state at 
the actual cost price plus interest. 

Preliminary plans were prepared by the State Architect, in 
co-operation with the Conservation Commission, after a care- 
ful study of the systems in Europe and a personal visit to some 
of the spas in the United States. It was found that two things 
were necessary — a proper bathhouse should be provided for 
every hydrotherapeutic treatment which the wonderful waters 
of Saratoga make possible. Secondly, in connection with the 
treatment, proper hotel accommodations should ultimately be 
provided where the necessary diet could be furnished for prop- 
erly administering the treatments. The erection of golf links 
and tennis courts adjacent to the hotel property is planned to 
provide the exercise so necessary in therapeutic treatments. 
Walks through the beautiful reservation furnish the required 
exercise for those with cardiac trouble. Winter sports are pro- 
vided in the plan by the erection of a dam in Coesa Creek with a 
guarantee of sufficient water for skating in winter and with a 



PROPOSED EXTENSION OF 

SARATOGA STATE RESERVATION 



fied by fhe State. 

V/,„,„,, ma/cares /anas ro oe ocgu/red. the greater part 
WW4'' of tyti/ch are hefd far sd/e to tt?e State at cdst. 

B = Proposed new Bafhs and ttotet. 



/ndicates /ands 
Indicates lands to be 




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76 




SKETCH OF PROPOSED SARATOGA RESERVATION EXTENSIONS 

proposed toboggan slide, snow shoeing and skiing, there would 
be furnished as much exercise during the winter months as 
during the summer. 

Their geographical situation adjacent to the Adirondacks 
and the dry climate make Saratoga Springs an ideal location 
for the cultivation of the finest spa in the world. There is no 
state in the union that compares with the Empire State, and 
New York should awaken to its opportunity to make use of these 
natural springs whose recognized curative and medicinal prop- 
erties would attract people from all over the world. 

As a first step toward this development the state should pur- 
chase the necessary land and should begin the construction of 
a new bath house and drink hall. 



THE PROPOSED TACONIC FOREST— A TRI-STATE PARK 

There is a splendid opportunity for the development in the 
Taconic Forest of a Tri-State Park involving the co-operation 
of the states of New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and 
some aid from private sources. While this project has not yet 
reached the point for immediate action, it is one which should 
be considered in connection with the New York plans, so that 
funds may be available when the proper time for action comes. 

The official commissions in both Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut have seriously discussed the Taconic Forest project for 
several years. The Connecticut Commission has proposed the 
Tri-State project as a vitally important feature in the Connecti- 
cut system, since it includes the highest point in the state and 
the finest mountain scenery. 



The tract is a total of about 40,000 acres, shown plainly 
enough by the mountain contours on sheets of the United States 
topographical survey — Milbrook and Copake in New York, Shef- 
field and Cornwall in Massachusetts and Connecticut. It is im- 
possible to put these four sheets together and escape the signifi- 
cance of this mountain mass. [See map opposite page 6.] 

The area is divided into 20,000 acres in Massachusetts, 11,000 
in Connecticut, and 9,000 in New York. The New York area 
is not of any value by itself, but the western slopes are neces- 
sary to afford adequate fire protection, and it is plainly impos- 
sible for one of the three states alone to realize the potential 
value of its share in the whole. 

The location of the proposed reservation makes the problem 
somewhat difficult, because it is obvious that the greater part 
of the public to use such a park will come from New York, while 
the greater cost of acquisition and development must fall on 
Connecticut and Massachusetts. There are at present no funds 
available in Connecticut, either private or public, for land pur- 
chase. Massachusetts has a forest purchase program, but will 
normally proceed with more central areas first, and is limited 
to $5. Connecticut has power, if the funds are available to 
acquire forest land at $8 or less and parks at any figure re- 
quired, plus the power of domain for park purposes. It is not 
at all unlikely that Massachusetts and Connecticut will appro- 
priate special funds for the Taconic Forest project, but neither 
state is ready to appropriate large sums for use in another state, 
or within its own borders for the use of the people of another 
state. It is therefore necessary that private initiative supply 
at least part of the funds necessary to insure the co-operation 
of the three states. 

There is another superficial obstacle to complete co-opera- 
tion by the three states in the varying policies to date of each 
state. Massachusetts has no state parks — the Mt. Everett State 
Reservation (800 acres within the Taconic tract) is actually a 
state park, but is not so termed, Connecticut distinguishes 
sharply between park and forest, and conceives the primary 
purpose of the forest to be economic, including the growing and 
harvesting of timber crops, while in New York the park and 
forest theories are combined in such a way that the park use 
predominates. The Taconic Forest, lying in three states, might 
well be developed in such a way that each state would handle 
its own product in timber, but with close co-operation in the 
recreational features, and with certain areas reserved for park 
purposes purely — including all the brooks, lakes and lookouts. 
Eventually there should be a development of parkways con- 
necting the park areas. 



78 



JOHN BOYD THACHER PARK 



John Boyd Tliaclier Park, 
comprising 400 acres on the Hel- 
derberg escarpment and border- 
ing on Thompson's Lake, is the 
only state park in Albany coun- 
ty. It is only about fifteen or 
twenty miles from the capitol. 
Nothing has been spent on it for 
permanent improvement since it 
was given to the state. It needs 
about $25,000 for a suitable ad- 
ministration building and about 
$25,000 more for public conven- 
iences, roads, paths, bridges, cliff- 
trails and guard rails. There is 
not a habitable building in the 
park and the superintendent 
lives in a rented cottage outside 
of the park boundaries. 




MINE LOT FALL 




RIM OF ESCARPMENT, JOHN BOYD THACHER PARK 

79 



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81 



APPENDIX B 

AN ACT making provision for issuing bonds to the amount of not to 
exceed fifteen million dollars for the extension and improvement of existing 
state parks and the establishment of new state parks and parkways in order 
to create a comprehensive and unified state park system for the promotion of 
the recreation, instruction and health of the people, and providing for a sub- 
mission of the same to the people to be voted upon at the general election to- 
be held in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-three. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as f allows. - 

Section I. — There shall be issued, in the manner and at the times hereinafter 
recited, bonds of the state in an amount not to exceed fifteen million dollars, which 
bonds shall be sold by the state and the proceeds thereof paid into the state treasury, 
and so much thereof as may be necessary expended for the acquisition and improve- 
ment of lands for state park purposes and the establishment of a unified state park 
system as hereinafter provided Such bonds when issued shall be exempt from 
taxation. 

Section II. — The comptroller is hereby directed to cause to be prepared the 
bonds of this state to an amount not to exceed $15,000,000, such bonds to bear interest 
at the rate of not in excess of five per centum (5%) per annum, which interest shall 
be payable semi-annually in the city of New York. Such bonds, or such portion 
thereof as may be issued, shall be serial bonds payable in equal annual instalments, 
the first of which shall be payable one year after the date of issue and the last of 
which shall be payable fifty years after the contracting of the debt. Such bonds 
shall be sold for not less than par. The comptroller is hereby charged with the 
duty of selling such bonds to the highest bidder after advertising for a period of 
twenty consecutive days, Sundays excepted, in at least two daily newspapers printed 
in the city of New York and one in the city of Albany. Advertisements shall contain 
a provision to the effect that the comptroller, in his discretion, may reject any or all 
bids made in pursuance of such advertisements, and, in the event of such rejection, 
the comptroller is authorized to re-advertise for bids in the form and manner above 
described as many times as in his judgment may be necessary to effect a satisfactory 
sale. Said bonds shall be sold in such lots and at such times as may be required for 
the purpose of making partial or final payments in accordance with the provisions 
of this act. The principal and interest on such bonds as the same accrue, shall be 
paid out of appropriations made therefor pursuant to law. 

Section III. — The proceeds of such bonds, after appropriation or appropriations 
therefrom by the legislature, shall be applicable to the acquisition of lands for state 
park purposes within the state of New York and to the making of permanent im- 
provements thereon as follows, provided that no part of the sum set aside for the 
State Forest Preserve shall be used for any other purpose than the acquisition of 
lands within the forest preserve counties, which lands if now owned by the state 
under existing law, would be part of the Forest Preserve : 

For the State Forest Preserve $5,000,000 

For the Palisades Interstate Park 3,500,000 

For the Allegany State Park .,. . . 2,000,000 

For the New York State Reservation at Niagara 1,000,000 

For the Letchworth Park 500,000 

For the Watkins Glen and Enfield Falls Parks and for other parks and 

parkways in the Finger Lakes region 250,000 

For parkway connections between the Bronx River Parkway and the bridge 

from Peekskill to Bear Mountain in Westchester County 1,000,000 

For the extension and development of the Roosevelt Memorial Park as a 

state park and for a parkway connection between this park and the 

City of New York 1,000,000 

82 



For the development and extension of other state parks and the acquisition 
and development of additional parks, including the further develop- 
ment of the State Reservation at Saratoga Springs and of the John 
Boyd Thacher Park 750,000 

Section IV. — The monies for the State Forest Preserve shall be expended and 
lands acquired under the direction of the conservation commissioner by and with the 
advice and consent of the commissioners of the land office. The monies for the 
extension and improvement of the Palisades Interstate Park shall be expended by the 
commissioners of the Palisades Interstate Park. Lands shall be acquired by the 
commissioners of the Palisades Interstate Park under the provisions of chapter one 
hundred and seventy of the laws of nineteen hundred, as amended. The monies for 
the extension and improvement of the Allegany State Park shall be expended by the 
commissioners of the Allegany State Park. Lands shall be acquired by the com- 
missioners of the Allegany State Park under the provisions of chapter four hundred 
and sixty-eight of the laws of 1921, as amended. The monies for the extension and 
improvement of the New York State Reservation at Niagara shall be expended by 
the commissioners of that Reservation. The monies for the Bronx Parkway exten- 
sions and connections shall be expended by the Bronx Parkway Commission or other- 
wise as the legislature may determine. The monies for the Roosevelt Memorial 
Park and Parkway shall be expended by a commission constituted by the legislature, 
to be known as the Roosevelt Memorial Park Commission. The monies for the 
extension and improvement of the Letchworth Park shall be expended by the 
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society; the monies for the extension 
and improvement of state parks in the Finger Lakes region shall be expended by a 
commission to be constituted as the legislature may determine and the remaining 
monies for other park extensions and for new parks, including the further develop- 
ment of the State Reservation at Saratoga Springs, shall be expended under the 
direction of the conservation commission by and with the advice and consent of the 
commissioners of the land office, or otherwise as the legislature may determine. 
The legislature may at any time hereafter provide that the monies as to which it is 
hereinbefore provided that the expenditure shall be made under the direction of the 
respective commissions or societies in this section specified, may be expended by any 
other commissioners that it may designate. 

Section V. — The monies appropriated for the acquisition of lands under this act 
shall be available for the payment of the purchase price where lands are acquired 
by contract or for payments of judgments and awards in case of purchase by con- 
demnation. Monies appropriated for the acquisition of forest preserve lands shall 
also be available for the payment of judgments and awards in case of proceedings 
by entry and appropriation. 

Section VI. — The term " lands " as used in this act includes the improvements 
thereon, if any. All lands acquired under and the state park system contemplated by 
this act shall be for the use of all the people. 

Section VII. — Submission of law to people. This law shall not take effect until 
it shall at a general election have been submitted to the people and have received a 
majority of all the votes cast for and against it at such election; and the same shall 
be submitted to the people of this state at the general election to be held in November, 
nineteen hundred and twenty-three. The ballots to be furnished for the use of the 
voters upon the submission of this law shall be in the form prescribed by the election 
law and the proposition or question to be submitted shall be printed thereon in sub- 
stantially the following form, namely : " Shall chapter (here insert the number of 
the chapter) of the laws of nineteen hundred and twenty-three entitled 'An Act 
making provision for issuing bonds to the amount of not to exceed fifteen million 
dollars for the extension and improvement of existing state parks and the establish- 
ment of new state parks and parkways in order to create a comprehensive and unified 
state park system for the promotion of the recreation, instruction and health of the 
people, and providing for a submission of the same to the people to be voted upon 
at the general election to be held in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-three, be 
approved?'" 

83 






M. B. Brown Printing & Bindinj? Co., 
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